The Point of It All
by Only1ToniD
Summary: For months, Steffy has been through the ringer with her marriage, but especially in the last 48 hours. She slept with inappropriate ex, and narrowly avoided an impromptu vow renewal right after. And that's just the most recent insanity, in what was supposed to be happily ever after. And that's not even mentioning what's ahead due to her indiscretion. What's a girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _I was inspired to write this after listening to Janet(Ms. Jackson if you're nasty) while reading spoilers, and decided to try to write. I don't own did create any of these characters._

* * *

**The Point of It All**

 **Part 1**  
She couldn't believe it. She, Steffy Forrester-Spencer, had slept with Bill Spencer, her father-in-law. ' _Finally_ ,' a soft voice in her mind whispered. She jolted upright in bed at the unexpected voice.

Steffy scrubbed her hands over her face as the insanity of the last few days threatened to overwhelm her: Bill moving forward with his plan to demolish Spectra Fashions but offering to relocate them as a compromise… Liam staging a sit-in unwilling to compromise his much-vaunted principles even a little… Bill thinking he scared everyone out of the building, but unwitting blowing it up with Liam & Sally inside because they'd run back in at the last minute… risking her life going into the collapsing building with Bill to save them… Liam's thankfully brief stay in the hospital… finally getting home only to deal with the tension between them… Liam's confession of sharing kisses with Sally while they were trapped… leaving devastated that she had been stupid enough to believe in him despite her every instinct warning her not to trust him… ending up at the guest house on her grandfather's property, where Bill had found her… Waking from hours in her father-in-law's arms… running home to confess to Liam only to find he had called Carter to renew their vows… running out once more overwhelmed & in shock… and finally driving straight to her brother's empty apartment. Her life had become a chaotic mess, so she had put her phone on Airplane mode, and turned off her brain, crashing in her brother's bed blissfully alone.

But it was a new day, and now that she was awake she would need to deal with her life. She only wished she knew exactly where to go from here. ' _You know where you really want to be_ ,' the voice spoke up again. ' _You always have_.'

"Oh, really," she huffed, slipping out of the bed and reaching into the closet for one of her brother's remaining button-downs on her way to the bathroom. "Do tell."

Hearing her own voice echoing off the tiles, she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. "What am I doing talking to myself? I really am losing it." And trying to ignore that superior, slightly mocking voice, she began stripping down for a much-needed shower. But she couldn't completely ignore that voice as it stated, ' _You can ignore me, but it won't change the truth. And the truth is you have always wanted, always loved Bill more than anyone other than Phoebe_.'

* * *

But Steffy was in for a surprise. While she was showering an unexpected visitor was letting themselves into Thomas's apartment. They came in and were shocked to hear the shower running and see a purse on the couch. Setting her bags beside it, she followed the sound of running water. She saw a phone on the bedside table and took a peek. "Steffy?" the woman murmured in confusion.

A moment later, the shower turned off. She set Steffy's phone aside and sat on the bed and waited.

Steffy exited the bathroom wearing her brother's shirt as she toweled her hair dry. The sound of a throat clearing was her only warning. Steffy whipped the towel down and gasped, "Mom?! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Taylor shot back with concern. "What are you doing here? Is something going on with Liam? Did he have to go back to the hospital?"

"No. No!" Steffy exclaimed. "Nothing like that. Everything is fine. Physically."

"Ok." Taylor watched her daughter carefully. "Explain."

"It's just been a really intense 48 hours," Steffy said. She hadn't exactly been keeping her troubles with Liam from her mom, but she hadn't been totally forthcoming either. "So what brings you to town?"

"You know your brother has been considering subletting, right?" Steffy nodded. "Well, since Sasha will be in town for the season, I just figured I would come through and hang out until she gets here. Besides, need to give her the keys." She paused. "Also, my daughter has been struggling with something and trying to downplay it so I won't worry."

"So Sasha's gonna be staying here for the season. That's great."

"Steffy!" Taylor demanded. "You know as well as I do that even though Thomas is pursuing a relationship with Caroline, he & Sasha have remained increasingly close friends. They FaceTime all of the time. I'm waiting for the calling telling me he and Caroline are going back to coparenting and he and Sasha are going to give it another try. It would have been easy for her to detour to New York to grab the keys. I'm here for you, Steffy. Talk to me. What has really been going on around here?"

"It—it's kind of a long story. It really started before Thomas moved to New York for Caroline & Douglas," Steffy began. "It all started with Sally Spectra coming to town."

"I assume you mean Dame Sally's niece."

"Yeah," she admitted. "I'm sure Thomas and I have both mentioned how she came to town gunning for me. And to be honest, I really didn't take her seriously."

"Until she stole those designs," Taylor added.

"Exactly," Steffy agreed. "But Liam talked me out of pressing charges because Bill had a hand in turning up the pressure."

"Pressure makes diamonds or dust," her mother interjected. "She chose to turn to theft instead of stepping up her game. No one can blame Bill for her actions. That's immature and shortsighted."

"That was my take, but Liam & Thomas got into my head, and I let her off to a degree." Steffy sighed. "I guess it was Liam's response that really got to me. And then Thomas got all tangled up in her. But Bill kept up the pressure on. And you know Bill."

"Oh, yeah."

"Eventually, even I ended up involved," Steffy admitted.

"You called Caroline, didn't you?"

Steffy hopped up and started pacing. "Thomas is too good for Sally. It was bad enough she fooled both him and Liam with her stupid martyr routine and had them blaming Bill like he was the bad guy when SHE robbed our family's business, but he was willing to invest a pretty significant chunk of his trust fund in her. I mean what about Douglas or any other kids he might someday have. He was completely blind for her. So I agreed with Bill and called Caroline. Unfortunately, Bill didn't trust that to be enough and he kept sabotaging Spectra."

"Sounds like him."

"He… he took it too far, and Liam snapped. He got Bill to confess on tape to some of his sabotage…"

"That's why Bill stepped down for a while?" Taylor asked. "Liam blackmailed him?"

"Pretty much." Steffy sighed, dropping beside her mom. "It spiraled from there. Liam became so determined to save Sally like he was on some insane crusade, worse than Thomas was. He betrayed his father over the… criminal who stole from my family's company. He gifted her the Spectra building and offered this insane no-interest loan."

"He did what?!"

"Mom, I tried to reason with him I did, but after Bill hit him for stealing the CEO seat from him, he wasn't hearing me. It didn't matter that he was rescuing my rival, or doing potentially irreparable damage to his relationship with his father. I started talking to Bill to mediate the situation. You know Bill, Mom, and he doesn't take things lying down. I knew he would get rid of the recording and take back his place as CEO eventually, and I knew if I didn't get through to Bill before he did, things would only escalate once he did."

"I'm assuming it helped," Taylor urged gripping her daughter's hand.

"For a while," the younger woman admitted. "I made Bill see that he went too far, but he didn't need to take it any further. After he destroyed the recording, Bill could have retaliated. He chose not to because of me—I mean, because I got through to him about his relationship with Liam."

"Mmhmm. Where was Brooke through all of this?"

"She walked away from their marriage over it. Because of Bill hitting Liam and everything else, she decided that she felt personally betrayed and didn't want a life with him anymore."

"How long until the divorce is final?" Taylor quipped. "And how long after before she and your dad plan to remarry?"

"You know her so well," Steffy chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Both of them really. I don't know. Bill is—he's giving up on it. He tried to get through to her, but after the building implosion…" Steffy shrugged.

"How did that even happen?" Taylor asked.

A slight smirk slipped free unbeknownst to Steffy. "Bill may have been more open to compromise, but he was not gonna let Liam get away with handing Spectra a $50M property AND a huge loan to boot."

"I still can't believe Liam would be so… reckless with his family's legacy," Taylor admitted shaking her head. "I mean, what could he have been thinking? Especially given your relationship with Sally's niece."

"That it was the right thing to do considering everything Bill had done to sabotage Sally," Steffy said, her face falling. "That not even our marriage or his family mattered more than his principles. At least that's what he told me."

Taylor was floored. "He—he said that?"

"Among other things." Steffy scrubbed her hands over her face and back through her hair. "But like I said, I got Bill past his initial anger. I made him see that his relationship with Liam meant more than that. He promised to be more open to compromise, and Liam promised never to take his family—any of us—for granted again."

"Until he did."

"Until he did." Steffy forced herself up off the bed. "I'm thirsty. I could use some water. You want anything?"

"Steffy," Taylor began.

"I'm done trying to avoid you, Mom," she cut in. "Not that I could in this one-bedroom apartment. I just need some water."

"Then I'll come with you," her mother replied, rising with her. "I'll see if any of my groceries are still usable for making you breakfast while we talk."

"You don't have to," Steffy said near the door.

Taylor wrapped an arm around her little girl. "I know. I want to."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it_.

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 2**  
Steffy drew comfort from her mother's familiar movements. As Taylor began organizing things for pancakes and bacon, Steffy started putting away the groceries. "You are the only person I know, who upon touching down from a flight will always head straight to the market."

Taylor chuckled. "I know you think it's anal, but I find that when I'm traveling alone, it's good to have a few things at your disposal. Honestly, room service and/or delivery get old pretty quickly."

Steffy laughed as she put away the milk her mother had just finished pouring and grabbed a bottle of water. So where did I leave off?"

"Bill and Brooke are over, but you managed to save Bill & Liam from trashing their relationship completely… until Bill did something to void Liam's gifting Sally the Spectra building."

"Well, Bill has plans for that site. He's going to build some massive version of Spencer Towers there. And between the value of the building and the millions in taxes Spencer would have to eat to give it away, Bill refused to just let it happen. However, he was willing to compromise. He would allow their lien to stand untouched, and even assist in their relocation & cover the expenses from the move."

"That makes sense." Taylor continued mixing her pancake batter as the frying pan heated up. "It's actually a pretty reasonable compromise. What was Liam's problem with it?"

"He didn't think it was an acceptable because Sally wanted to keep the building and build on the Spectra legacy," Steffy grumbled. "He felt Bill owed it to Sally to let her keep the building AND help her rebuild. Anything less was unacceptable in his eyes so he staged a protest. Just him, Sally, her grandmother, and a couple of their most loyal employees. They refused to leave the building unless Bill gave in."

Taylor turned to look at her daughter and almost bobbled the frying pan. "Since when is Liam less reasonable than his father?"

Steffy shrugged, surprised at her mom. "What makes you say he was?"

"Look, I don't know the details of how Bill went about sabotaging Spectra, but I do know Bill Spencer is not given to remorse, compassion, and/or compromise," Taylor explained as she continued flipping and stacking fluffy pancakes on a waiting platter. "Especially in business. But he did. For the sake of his relationship with his son, something I'm sure you tried to explain to Liam."

"Before and after he quit." Steffy pauses to sip on her water. "So it became a game of chicken. Bill blew an ancillary building to scare them out and it worked."

"Until Liam got it into his head not to give up, after all, I presume, and ran back in," Taylor added seeing the writing on the wall.

"Exactly," she sighed. "And of course, Sally was right with him. Bill blew the building thinking it was empty and trapped them inside."

"That must have been terrifying." Taylor turned down the burner, set aside her implements and wrapped an arm around her daughter.

"Bill and I were devastated, but he didn't hesitate for a second to go in after them," Steffy replied quietly, the fear gripping her again. "He wanted me to wait outside, but when I refused, he had my back while we searched. I had faith that together we would get them out. And we did."

"But something happened between Liam and Sally while they were trapped."

"How cliché, right?" Steffy pulled away to pace, and Taylor turned back to cooking. "In a married man's perceived final moments, he couldn't resist tonguing another woman instead of thinking about the wife his stupidity could have left behind."

"Oh, honey."

"What? It's true!" she huffed. "I was so devastated. I never for a second allowed myself to think of Sally as a threat to my marriage. It wasn't like she was Hope. She was just a project he was becoming a little too obsessed with. But Bill was right all along. Why would he be so obsessed with protecting & avenging Spectra if he didn't have feelings for her?"

"He said that?"

"Yeah," Steffy sighed. "I feel so stupid to have trusted him for so long. I was devastated. I had completely ignored the signs because I wanted to believe we were more than that. I caught him holding her and comforting her more than once, but I put it down to Liam just having a big heart. But he admitted it, Mom. He kissed her. Twice. It's not some case of Sally kissing him and Liam pulling away. He kissed her back. Some part of him wants her. If they hadn't been physically trapped under rubble, they probably would have had sex, Mom."

"Honey, I'm sorry," she whispered as she finished making the last of the bacon for their breakfast and took the plates of pancakes and bacon to the table.

"I felt so worthless and stupid and blind. What was so wrong with me that he had to go to her? What was I lacking?"

"Nothing!" Taylor exclaimed, cupping her daughter's face. "Baby, I need you to hear me when I say this. Liam cheating is not your fault. Nothing you did or didn't do excuses his behavior. He chose to put his rescue or redemption mission or whatever it was ahead of you and your marriage. No matter how hard you fought to make him see what he was doing to you, he chose to ignore it and invest in someone else. That's not on you. There are two people in your relationship and it takes both of you working together to make it work. It's not all your responsibility."

"Yeah," Steffy whispered pulling away to sit down and make herself a plate. "Bill said something similar." Steffy's mind flashes back to the night before. "I was so upset I walked out on Liam. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I definitely couldn't stand to look at him. So I went for a drive."

They shared a moment of silence as Steffy nibbled a slice of bacon. "I didn't have a destination in mind really. I just started driving until I ended up at Grandfather's."

"Did talking to him help?"

"I didn't see anyone really," Steffy started, alas she cut up her pancakes. "I just wanted to be alone, so I went to the guesthouse. But Bill called and I answered without thinking. I didn't tell him where I was, but he figured it out."

"You and Bill have always had this uncanny understanding of each other," Taylor offered tentatively. She was eyeing her daughter very carefully as she stuffed a mouthful of pancakes in her mouth. "It's why you stayed so close even after you moved on with Liam." Steffy choked, took a sip of water, and nodded. "If Bill was such a comfort and you planned to stay at the guesthouse, what are you doing here?"

Steffy swallowed heavily. "Bill was like a balm to the broken edges of my soul. I'm perfect in his eyes, even when I screw up. It felt so good to just soak in his unconditional love and support."

Taylor watched her daughter begin toying with her food like she used to as a child when she needed to tell her a truth she was either ashamed of or afraid would get her in trouble. As she watched, a picture of why Steffy might have left the guesthouse and the comfort Bill offered began taking shape in her mind. She gasped. "Steffy, did you sleep with Bill?"

Steffy choked on the food in her mouth. Taylor reached over to rub her back to help her spasmodic lungs, but Steffy shifted away to grab her water. She chugged the remainder of her half-empty water bottle and hopped up. "Let me get another." Steffy leaned into the fridge. "Want one?"

"I'm fine," she responded watching her daughter close the fridge recomposed.

"So was it that obvious?"

"Only to a professional observer of human behavior who specializes in you," Taylor quipped trying for levity as she watched the far away look overtake her daughter's gaze. "I'm not judging you, Steffy. I just wasn't expecting it."

"It's been a very unexpected 48 hours," Steffy replied, shaking herself free of the night before. "But yes, we—Bill and I—were… intimate. It was intense and amazing, and I'm feeling very guilty and conflicted and confused."

Taylor took a moment to collect herself. "So you and Bill slept together, and then you came here."

"Not much sleep involved, except that last time," Steffy admitted distractedly before shaking herself of another memory. "But I woke up feeling good until I remembered. And then the guilt hit. So I ran back to Liam's to confess, and he had contacted Carter to perform a vow renewal. Which only freaked me out all over again. I came here to get my head together. So that's everything on the last two days—and the last several months."

Taylor took a deep breath as she and her daughter ate in silence. "So how long have you been having feelings for Bill again?" she asked into the silence.

Fortunately, Steffy was finished chewing. "Mom!"

"What?" Taylor asked, shrugging nonchalantly. "You two were on the verge of starting a life together. You were ready to do anything to make it happen, and he was just as wrapped up in you."

"Until he chose to be with his wife—"

"She's his ex-wife now." Taylor shot back taking another bite of pancakes.

"—and I moved on with Liam."

"Who has chronic issues with fidelity and whom you just cheated on with Bill," Taylor replied coolly, before devouring the last of her food.

"Are you suggesting I pursue something with Bill?" Steffy asked becoming agitated as she remembered the tender way he held her as she cried. Hoping to redirect her nervous energy, she grabbed their dishes and rolled up her sleeves to begin washing everything. "Since when are you Team Bill?"

"First of all, I'm not suggesting anything, I just asked a question," Taylor responded as she stood and entered the kitchen in search of a tea kettle and the tea she'd purchased. "And one you have yet to answer I might add. But secondly, I am what I've always been unapologetically Team Steffy."

Steffy let out a breath. "I guess I've never **not** had feelings for Bill in one way or another," she admitted as she washed and refused to look at her mother. "But he's my father-in-law."

"Mmmm," Taylor hummed. "The father-in-law and former inamorata who you had very 'intense', 'intimate' sex with last night. Your words."

"I'm married, Mom. Remember? So is Bill. I seem to remember you being very against me being involved with him for that very reason once upon a time. What changed?"

"Actually, a lot of things," Taylor admitted, amused at her daughter's agitation. "He's no longer married to Katie, for one. And then there's the fact that his current wife is well on her way to her millionth date with destiny with your father as another. Add to that, you are no longer my early 20-something daughter with possible daddy issues chasing a man old enough to be her father. Or that it's been something like 7 years of living through some pretty difficult life experiences that have allowed you to mature and during which your bond with Bill has remained strong despite a few potential dealbreakers that could have and has broken other relationships. Or there's the way that over the last few months you've gone out of your way to support and help him, and felt safe enough to be vulnerable with him while keeping even me at arm's length. And then there's the fact that last night when you were broken-hearted and devastated you had 'intense', 'intimate' sex despite him being your father-in-law." Taylor paused to allow Steffy a moment to absorb her mother's words. "But hey! Lord knows I've been wrong before. Either way you're a mature young woman. You don't need your mommy to tell you what you think or feel or what's right and wrong anymore. I'm just making observations and asking questions. Tea?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it._

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 3** Steffy felt completely blindsided. Her mother's points were honest and absolutely valid, but not something she felt comfortable with. Besides, like she'd said already, she was a married woman, and as long as that was the case, that had to be the focus. So when her mother offered her tea, she welcomed it immediately and the settled in on Thomas's couch. "I appreciate you respecting my ability to make my own decisions and you make some good points, but I'm still married, Mom," Steffy explained. "I can't even begin considering feelings I may or may not have for Bill until I deal with my marriage, and whether I feel there's a marriage to be saved."

"I understand, honey," Taylor soothed. She blew on her tea and took a sip. "So where do you stand on Liam? How would you describe the state of your marriage?"

"I asked for that," Steffy grumbled. She sighed. "I'm not really sure to be honest. Last night, I was… devastated. I know I'm repeating myself, but I keep coming back to the fact that I completely trusted Liam. I believed in him. Everything we went through to be together with Hope, Ivy, and even Quinn... I really thought we were past it all. I thought it was he and I against the world. There was no one to get in between us. No lingering feelings for exes. We were planning a family, Mom."

"I know, honey."

Steffy stared into her mug. "What is it in me that never seems to be enough for Liam? I mean, Sally, Mom? My enemy. The thief who stole from my family? I-is that what he really wants? Or is it just anyone, but me? If that's the case, why'd he fight so hard to get me to leave Wyatt? Why did he marry me? I just don't understand."

"Oh, baby, no!" Taylor gasped, shaken from her shocked awe. In that moment as Steffy poured out her pain—a pain that was all too familiar—she'd seen herself at her lowest in her saga with Ridge, and a piece of her hardened toward both Liam Ridge. She rushed to set aside her mug of tea scooped her weeping daughter into her arms. "Honey, no. You are not responsible for Liam's behavior. I said it before and I need you to really hear me this time. It is not your sole responsibility to hold your relationship together. But let me add that you are much more than the success or failure of any relationship."

"But Mom…"

"No, honey, listen to me," Taylor interrupted. "You have to stop treating Liam like he's on a pedestal somewhere way above you and not responsible for his own choices. You need to listen to yourself. Somehow, no matter how Liam fails you or your marriage it keeps being about how you weren't enough or how Sally somehow has something you lack. But how can you truly love and respect this man and never hold him accountable for what he does?"

Steffy pulled back staring at her mother in shock. "I don't—"

"Don't you?" Steffy frowned but fell silent as if deep in thought. "Have you ever considered the fact that your feelings for Liam stem from more hero worship than loving him for who he really is?"

"Why would you think that?"

"When you fell for Liam, it was sudden, honey," Taylor answered carefully. "You had just been involved very seriously with Bill, and you were drowning, and Liam was like a lifeline. Literally and figuratively. His presence in your life saved you from drowning in your pain as surely as he saved you from drowning in your bathtub. Your relationship has never really been on an even playing field."

"Why—Why are you just now telling me this?"

"Your mom is not perfect, and I think because of my history with your Dad and Brooke, I may have had a blindspot where your husband is concerned, but for the first time in my life, I was heartbroken by how much like me you were. Because I never wanted this for you, sweetheart. Not ever." Taylor caressed her daughter's cheek as they both fought tears. "You were always my little powerhouse. Strong, confident, determined… almost cocky like your dad Grandmother. Now, you're doubting yourself. This is not you. Love is not this. Before your father fell for Brooke, he was faithful, loving, and supportive. He wasn't perfect. No one is, but he never allowed me to feel less than. He loved me for the strong, independent woman I was and encouraged me to live up to that."

"So does Liam?" Steffy defended weakly doubtfully.

"In word or in deed?" Taylor countered. "Because they say actions speak louder than words for a reason. Think about it."

Taylor got up and grab her bags. "Where are you going?"

"I was going to see what I have that you can borrow from the things I brought before we go pick you up some clothes I look for a room nearby."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"I left a few things here from last time I stayed with Thomas so I have clothes. But also, don't book a room. I won't be staying here."

"You sure you want to go back so soon?" Taylor asked carefully.

"I won't be." At the confusion on her mother's face, Steffy explained. "Remember how I decided to rent out my loft fully furnished instead of selling it? Well, a couple days ago, the most recent renters moved out. I'll just call the realtor, and let her know to pull the listing. I can just stay there until I decide on my next step."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Steffy sighed. "Liam should be here anytime looking for me anyway so let me get dressed and head over there so you can get comfortable."

"I guess that works," Taylor agreed. "Just remember, you can't hide from Liam forever. Or Bill."

"I know, I just need time," she said. "And Mom? Thanks. You gave me a lot to think about."

The door opened, and it looked exactly like she'd left it. "Thank you so much for meeting me to drop off the new front door key. I promise to get back to you about whether I want to accept that offer you received. Or if I decide to list it again."

"Sounds good," the realtor responded. "Later, Steffy."

Steffy let out the breath she was holding upon hearing the door close and lock behind her realtor. "Finally."

Steffy looked at her silenced, vibrating phone as more calls texts came in. Finally, she had enough. She texted Bill first. ['I'm fine. Just overwhelmed. I promise we'll talk soon, but no more than 4 unsolicited call/texts per day or I'll shut off my phone, get a new number and not give it to you.']

He responded immediately. ['Sorry. You just worried me with the way you ran off. And I know you didn't run back to Liam—at least not for long.']

Steffy frowned. ['Who told you that? Wyatt?']

The response came quickly. ['No. A very contrite Liam showed up here bright and early asking for his job back… then he admitted what happened.']

Steffy let out another breath. ['Oh, really. What did you have to say to that?']

There was a long pause, but three blinking dots let her know he was still there responding. [••• 'A part of me wanted to just be honest with him. To tell him that he screwed up I love you too much to wait around for him to do it yet again. So if he can accept that renewing our father/son relationship means his wife would become his stepmother, I would accept his apology and give him his job back.']

A hysterical chuckle burst from Steffy as she remembered saying something very similar to Liam when she had been planning her future with Bill. ['What did you actually say?']

['That I love him and hope we can work things out. I love my son. But I meant what I said Steffy… I love you. I'm sure you want to tell him what happened in your own way in your own time. I respect that. I'm not going to rush you… All evidence to the contrary.?']

She laughed again. Bill could always tell when she needed to laugh and made her smile with such ease. ['So you know everything?']

[ ••• 'I know that my son and my ex-wife have insanely bad timing for vow renewals! I also know you're a lot better at responding to them. You did what I should have all those years ago. I should have left instead of letting guilt and obligation make a liar out of me.']

"Bill," she whispered through teary eyes as she remembered how stressed he had seemed trapped between two women who owned pieces of his heart.

['You still there?']

Steffy took a deep breath. ['I don't know what to say. I'm married to your son, but I can't deny there is a part of me that has always wished things had been different then. But they happened the way the happened, and I became Mrs. Liam Spencer instead.']

Her phone rang. It was Bill, of course. Hesitatingly, she answered, "What, Bill?"

"Aside from wanting to hear your voice?"

"Yeah, aside from that, Bill." But the humor was clear in her tone. "What do you want?"

"You."

"Bill—"

"I love you," he swore. "And it can be different this time."

"We're both married, Bill… to other people," Steffy said pleadingly.

"I got word from the process server that Brooke got the divorce papers today. As soon as she signs them, my marriage will be over."

"But mine won't, and I'm not sure if I want it to be," she whispered sadly. "I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be sorry," Bill replied with a sigh. "I know you think I'm pushing, but I'm not. I just want you to know. Ok?"

Feeling the pressure in her chest lighten, she sighed. "Ok. I, um, I wanted to thank you. I was falling apart into so many pieces I wasn't sure I would ever feel whole again. You held me together."

"You never have to thank me for that," Bill said adamantly. "You don't even know what it meant for me to be with you. I haven't been able to think about anything else since we made love. Holding you in my arms, tasting you on my tongue..."

Steffy's mind flashed back the hours the shared in the guest house. "Bill—"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Bill, is that Liam?" Steffy asked urgently.

"Uh, huh," Bill answered. "Just a second… what's up, son?"

"I had a question on a report," Liam replied quickly. "Is that Brooke? I can come back."

"No, Bill, keep him there, I need to stop at the cliff house and get some of my things before he gets home. That way we can talk without it hanging over our heads."

"I can do that," Bill responded into his phone. "But are you sure?"

"Yeah," Steffy said. "It needs to be done, but don't worry. I'm going to be honest with him; I'm just also going to leave you out of it."

"You don't have to," Bill said.

"I feel like I do. But thanks," Steffy asserted. "I'll keep in touch, I promise."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will." Steffy ended the call, grabbed her keys, and headed to the cliffhouse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** _This is moving right along!_ _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it._

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 4** It had felt strange entering the place that had become her home since falling for Liam. As she moved through quickly packing her things and putting them in her car, it only grew stranger. Because where before only memories of Liam had haunted her, now they were interspersed with moments spent there with Bill—while married to Liam and long before. _"My beautiful Steffy."_ She could almost hear him like he was there as she stood by the fireplace. Could almost feel his hands rubbing the damp skin of her arms to help her get warm.

She was so lost in the memories, she didn't hear the front door open and close. "Steffy, you're home."

As she turned to face him, she was engulfed in a warm hug. Her heart tugged and without thinking, she was crying and hugging him back. At least until he spoke, jarring her back to reality. "Oh, god, I've missed you so much. I'm so glad you're home."

Steffy immediately pulled away. "We, um, we need to talk, Liam."

"Of course," he responded eagerly. "I was just so happy to see you back here in our home. I've missed you."

"I missed you, too," Steffy admitted, putting space between them. She thought she had herself in check for this moment, being in the home where they planned to raise a family, was getting to her. ' _He planned to raise a family with Hope here, too. Maybe Ivy as well,'_ she heard a voice whisper through her mind. Steffy felt a chill run down her spine as the thought took root, allowing her to regain her self-control. "Let's sit down and talk."

She let him lead and sit first before choosing a chair some distance away from his place on the couch. When Liam tried to move closer, she brought her hand up. "Just talk, Liam."

His shoulders slumped in disappointment, but he nodded settling back into the couch. "I hope you know how sorry I am about kissing Sally. Allowing that to happen was a huge mistake. It meant nothing to me. You are my everything. I love you. So much."

"I know you love me, and I believe that you believe what you're saying," Steffy began. "But that kiss means a lot to me."

"Steffy, I swear I don't love Sally! It was just kisses. And it was a huge mistake. And it will never happen again. I swear to you."

"Liam, you have to stop making promises you can't keep," Steffy replied defeatedly. "But the kiss wasn't even the real issue. And somehow you still fail to get it."

"If it's not about the kiss, what is it about?" Liam asked growing frustrated. "Why did you walk out of our home TWICE if not because I kissed Sally."

"You kissing Sally was just another symptom of a much bigger problem," Steffy snapped. "And it worries me that you still can't seem to see it. Our marriage has been in trouble for months and I can't keep fighting to hold it together by myself!"

Liam sat back in dejected shock. "Months?"

"And you didn't even notice?" Steffy asked sadly, pain welling up in her chest. "I've been begging you for months to let this Sally thing go. To focus on us and on building our family. But it was like the more serious we got about having a child, the more obsessive and dismissive you became. I told you what you were doing was hurting me. Do you remember what you said to me?"

"I, um," he stammered thinking back.

"Nothing mattered more than your pet project. Not me my hurt feelings. Not family. Not our marriage." Steffy wiped away a tear. "Do you know how that feels... to be told by the man who is supposed to one day father your child that taking care of your business rival was more important to him than anything? What if I had been pregnant? Would you still have blown me off so easily? If we had a child, would he or she have been second to your agenda with Sally, and your efforts to make her whole?"

"Oh, god, Steffy, are you pregnant?" Liam asked.

"Are you kidding me right now? It shouldn't matter! I'm your wife! Forsaking all others, Liam! I know we went with unconventional vows, but it was still a part of the deal!" Steffy stood and began pacing. "But I choked it down, made excuses for you, because at least you didn't have feelings for Sally. It was just your overactive conscience getting the best of you. You love me. You're just so kind that, of course, you would want to make things right for that supposed victim. But then you thought you were going to die, and instead of thinking of me as I was risking my own life to get to you, you were kissing HER. It was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, Liam. You broke me down long before you decided kissing Sally deserved the last moments of your life."

"Baby, I'm so, so sorry," Liam cried, tears in his eyes as he realized how far off the rails he'd gone. "Steffy, baby, please. I need you to know how much I love you. You are my entire world. Please, baby, forgive me."

"I want to," Steffy admitted. "I really do, but we're going to need to make some changes if we're going to survive." Steffy preceded to pull out a sheath of marked papers and set a pen on top of it.

"No, baby, no," Liam pleaded.

"You have two choices," Steffy forced out through the lump in her throat. "We go to marriage counseling and we figure this out or you sign these, and we accept that love isn't enough to make our marriage last." Liam opened his mouth to speak. "Before you make your decision… you were honest with me so I'm going to be honest with you."

Steffy was shaking like a leaf. "Steffy, what is it?"

She held back the floodgates by taking a few deep breaths. "You broke my heart last night. I was devastated. I ran into a friend, who listened to me and heard me and held me together so that I did shatter into a million pieces. He told me I was wonderful and perfect, while I was wondering what was wrong with me that you would kiss her. While I was asking myself what she had that I didn't?"

Liam got on his knees in front of the chair she was once again occupying. "God, Steffy! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry. There is nothing wrong with you. You lack nothing. You are everything your friend said you are. You are perfect."

"I'm not, Liam," Steffy whispered. "I seem to be lacking self-esteem these days. He told me he loved me. That he always had. He kissed me."

"It doesn't matter. It was one kiss," Liam reassured a tearful Steffy.

"But it wasn't. We slept together." Steffy let go of her control and her tears flowed. "I'm sorry, Liam. I messed up. Really bad, and I'm sorry."

"You had sex with someone," he echoed in a daze. "You left here, had sex, and came back to me that night. You were so upset because you knew you had cheated!"

"I know! I'm sorry!" Steffy screamed. "I'm sorry."

"All that bullshit about how I did this and that just to justify the fact that you cheated on me!" Liam chuckled derisively.

"What?" Steffy gasped. "No! I'm not trying to justify anything. I'm just trying to be honest and see if there's anything left for us to fight for," Steffy explained. "I love you. When I married you, it was forever. I'm willing to keep fighting for us, but I'm done fighting alone. It's up to you to choose. You have all the facts. Make your choice. Are you willing to do therapy and fight for us like I always have? Or are we over?"

"All the facts? Not even close. Who is he?" Steffy shook her head. "Was it Wyatt? Tell me!"

"It doesn't matter who it was. We are the ones who pledged our lives to each other. This is between you and me, and you have a choice to make! Fight for us or let me go for good. What's it going to be, Liam?"

"It was Wyatt, wasn't it?" Liam hissed. "Son of a bitch."

"Liam! Wyatt is not my only male friend, dammit!" Steffy snapped in frustration. "Stop focusing on the wrong thing and make a decision. This is our marriage we're dealing with here! Is who I was with for ONE NIGHT all you care about?"

"And if it is?"

Steffy's baby blues iced over. "Then sign the papers," Steffy said quietly.

Defiantly, Liam picked up the pen and signed each of the places her attorney had marked. "Who?"

Steffy gathered up the papers and shoved them in her bag. Then she grabbed her keys and pulled off the house keys and offered them to Liam. "Here."

"Who?"

Steffy slammed the keys on the coffee table and spun on her heel to leave. "If I missed anything, I'll have Bill meet me here to pick it up or you can have it messengered to Forrester. Goodbye, Liam."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** **_Warning:_** _Rated **M** as there may be some strong sexual healing._ _If you watch_ The Bold and The Beautiful _and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it._

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 5** Steffy was so exhausted. After everything they had been through—the good, the bad the ugly, Steffy had truly believed they had a chance to make it through to the other side. Turned out there was only one problem with that belief… her husband didn't share it. And now their marriage was over. All those hopes and dreams were dead. They had both made mistakes, but only one of them was willing to give up so easily instead of working through them.

By the time Steffy let herself into her loft, she finally felt all cried out. She was really sick of crying, especially over Liam. She plopped on the couch and pulled the proof that their dreams were dead out of her bag, dropping it on the coffee table. A sparkle flashed as her rings caught a sliver of moonlight. Heaving a deep sigh, the beautiful brunette pulled her rings off and dropped them on her divorce papers. "We're over," she whispered disbelievingly.

Strangely, a part of her breathed a sigh of relief even as her heart was breaking. She had loved Liam as hard and as fully as she could. She promised herself that from this moment on she was going to be a little more selfish, to focus on getting in touch with her own wants and needs. It was time for Steffy Forrester to rise from the ashes of this failed relationship and find the girl she'd been pushing down to feel worthy of her soon-to-be-ex-husband's love.

And she knew just how she wanted to start. It was something so small, but it felt almost monumental. Her first selfish choice as a single girl would be adding meat animal byproducts back into her diet. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of the bacon she'd had at breakfast or real cheese meat on a pizza. Her stomach grumbled again reminding her she hadn't eaten since that breakfast with her mother. She grabbed her phone and checked the time. "Late, but not too late," she muttered immediately dialing her favorite delivery pizza place. "Hey! This is Steffy Forrester. I want an extra-large meat lover's with a side of wings and… mmm… a two liter of Dr. Pepper. No greens or healthy anything. Yeah, and throw in a few of those little apple pie thingies. I used to love those. …Yeah. Uh-huh, whatever, how long? Ok. Tell the driver the faster he gets here, the bigger the tip. No. 629 Vine Place. Uh-huh. Thanks. See you soon."

With the end of her order, she would have tossed her phone aside, but a ding signaling a new text brought her attention back to her phone. ['How is it going? You ok?']

Steffy stared at Bill's text for a long moment trying to decide if she should respond.

['I can see you read my text and you know me better than anyone, if you don't respond, I won't hesitate to make a nuisance of myself.']

Steffy laughed ruefully, knowing it was very truthful. ['Hello to you, too. *It* is over. I'm settling in and waiting for my pizza.'] Steffy hopped up to check the box she'd pulled out of storage earlier. "Dammit! No wine," she grumbled putting it on her grocery list.

[Great! Another vegan travesty. After the last couple of days, you should try to talk Liam into a real pizza.']

Steffy felt a pang in her chest as she realized for the millionth time that her marriage was over. ['You misunderstand me. I'm at my place, not the cliffhouse, and I did order a *real* pizza. An extra-large meat lover's.']

['What did that idiot kid of mine do? Where are you? Do you need me to come over?]

['I'm fine. Out of wine, but I'll settle for Dr. Pepper until I can pick some up. I'm just gonna hit the shower, gorge and then hit the sack.']

[If you're sure…']

['I am. Good night, Bill'] Steffy sighed as she checked the time this time, tossed aside her phone. She probably had enough time for only a quick shower and change.

Steffy heard knocking at the front door just as she was slipping out of the shower. "Coming!" She called.

She grabbed the first robe she came to—a short, silky, filmy thing that always made her feel sexy even when she was down on herself—and rushed to grab her purse on her way to the door. "That was really quick," she yelled through the door. "And I have your tip as promised!"

She swung open the door and froze in shock. "Bill?!"

Steffy opened her front door expecting to find her pizza delivery guy with her order, but instead Bill stood there holding it along with a bottle of wine. The charming grin and a teasing glint in his gaze quickly became wolffish as he took in her nearly naked appearance and her damp hair confirming she was fresh from her shower. He muscled past her and set down the food he'd been carrying on the end table in front of him. Steffy could barely get her bearings as she leaned against her open front door staring at her unexpected visitor. "Bill! Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I was here to bring you your dinner and that wine you were craving," Bill practically growled as he stalked back to stand in front of her invading her space and making her brain all fuzzy with memories of the night they had shared. "But I believe you made certain promises regarding a tip. And I intend to collect on it."

Steffy barely had time to catch her breath or collect her thoughts before he had scooped her up with an arm around her waist causing her back to hit the suddenly closed door. "Bill!" Steffy barely managed to gasp as his mouth came down on hers devouring it.

Without conscious thought, her legs wrapped around Bill's hips, and he started rocking against her in a rhythm that would easily get her off all on its own with the heat suffusing her body. Her whimper seemed to inflame him further making him desperate to taste more of her. Her mouth was freed by his lips, teeth, and tongue traveling to her throat blazing a trail of blistering heat on every inch of skin he tasted. "Bill," she squeaked out as he nibbled along her clavicle. "What—we—I—"

Bill placed special attention on her breasts. The way he laved the meat of her breasts all around her puckered, increasingly sensitive nipples only to flick the tender tips was the most exquisite torment. He then sucked rhythmically on the plump flesh of her breast, still avoiding her nipples. Steffy heard a loud begging whine fill the silence, but it took her a moment to recognize it as coming from her. Before she could muster the sense to be embarrassed his sultry mouth enveloped her left nipple, and her whole body broke out in tremors as she nearly came apart at the way he played her body like Mozart played a piano, while focused solely on her breasts. Her mind became filled with a white noise of pleasure as he tortured her breasts so deliciously.

Steffy only noticed that her legs had been wrapped around him as Bill unraveled them to set her on shaky feet as he knelt before her kissing his way down her body. The feel of his slightly calluses hands on her tender skin made her aware that her robe was fully open now, but she couldn't make her mind think of why that was a bad thing or how she was supposed to close it. The thing wasn't gone because now that she thought of it, she could feel its weight resting inside her elbows as her fingers tunneled through his lush, black locks. "Bill?" she whimpered as his tongue laved her belly button.

"Uh-huh," Bill responded clearly more focused on the journey his mouth was taking from her hip, over the top of her thigh down to her knee, which he lifted to lick at a new angle.

"Wh-uh!" she managed, before clearing her throat to try again. "Wh—Bill, what are you d-doing?"

"Um, I enjoyed your tips so much," he began pausing to settle her leg in his left shoulder before lapping up her inner thigh starting at her knee. "I decided to give you a tip as well."

The knee of her other leg threatened to give out as he leaned in to lave her open lips. But when he hummed like he'd tasted ambrosia, it collapsed completely. Bill was prepared and caught her, flinging the trembling leg over his right shoulder. The tip of his tongue traced every nook cranny of sex until 'please' became the only intelligible word she was capable of.

Finally, he pulled away and let his gaze travel slowly up the path his mouth had tasted until his hungry gaze met hers. "I think this deserves more than just a tip," Bill said demanded.

Steffy was so dazed with pleasure, she couldn't do anything more than beg. "Please," her raspy voice pleaded.

"Then please you I will," he swore, with a delighted smirk, and wasted no time diving in to devour her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** _It has been such a long time since my muse had flowed so easily on a story. This feels really good._ _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 6  
** Steffy arched screaming as after bringing her to the edge countless times, he finally sent her over into a mind-blowing climax. Her body slumped trying to slide down the door, but Bill held her in place as he lavished her center with kisses meant to soothe rather than incite. "Enough," Steffy whimpered desperately, her voice raw. "I can't—please."

Bill looked up at her as she leaned against the door, glowing from her orgasm, but clearly spent. Bill took mercy and let her legs off his shoulders before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the nearby couch. "Don't," she murmured, he looked at her in confusion. "It's white. You'll ruin it."

"I'll pay to have it cleaned myself. It's worth it," Bill chuckled. As he settled into the couch with her in his lap. He noticed she was trying to reclose her robe but struggling. "Need some help?"

Steffy nodded, and he helped her dress. "So much for that shower," she huffed teasingly, leaning heavily against Bill's shoulder, and snuggling into the soft cloth gently caressing her cheek as it covered her chest until a thought dawned. "You're still dressed."

"I am," he agreed reaching behind the couch for the food and wine he had brought with him when she sat up.

"Ok, **why** are you still dressed?" she clarified, a little uncomfortable now that she'd been basically naked while he had remained fully clothed. "Why didn't you—?"

"Is that an invitation?" Bill asked, setting aside the wine bottle and the pizza box and focusing on her with renewed heat.

"When have you ever needed an invitation?" she shot back. "Not that I'm saying I do or don't want you to, I just—"

"It wasn't about that, Steffy," Bill answered. "I was focused on tasting you, giving you pleasure. The rest will come." He shrugged and grabbed the pizza box, grabbed a slice.

"Oh, it will, will it?" she teased, snagging a slice of cold pizza. "You really think so even after you let my pizza get cold?"

"That's not all I brought you," he growled, nipping at her erect nipple through her robe.

Steffy squealed giggled. "Yeah, but I haven't checked the label on the wine yet."

Bill threw back his head and laughed. "Tough talk from someone who is still shaking and having difficulty standing." He snagged a bite of her pizza before reaching behind him to grab the wine bottle and an opener he brought with him.

"No, wine glasses?"

"I was planning to sip it from your navel," he teased, as he opened the bottle and took a sip then passed it over.

Steffy took a sip, frowned, and checked the bottle. "How did you know this was my favorite red?" she asked, slipping out of Bill's lap to sit beside him. "And while we're at it, how did you find me?"

Bill gave her a devious grin and took a bite of pizza. "I pay attention to you when you speak, Steffy. I always have. When you came to dinner you always really enjoyed this red so I keep it stocked, and gave a few to Liam on occasion. And when you promised you would try being vegan with Liam, you raved for weeks over how your last hurrah with meat was this place's pizza. So when you said you ordered, I grabbed a bottle from the office and headed over and gave every employee a $500 tip to let me pick up your order and to put a note in your file that if anyone asks, to tell them you haven't ordered delivery from them so you didn't give them your new address and I would match their bribe plus a $500 tip."

"Thank you," Steffy said, swallowing hard as she tried to subtly cover herself more.

"I figured if you wanted it known where you moved, you'd have shared," Bill replied, rolling his eyes when she raised an eyebrow at him. "I had to find out. Wine, remember?"

Steffy laughed. "Really, thank you for everything," Steffy began. "But um—" She broke off as she realized where Bill's gaze had fallen.

"Those are your rings," he whispered, as he stared. "It's really over."

Steffy scooped up the symbols of the failure of her most recent marriage to Liam, and rushed to the hidden safe, unaware Bill was following. She opened it, grabbed the small jewelry box, and slipped her rings inside it.

Suddenly, Bill reached over her shoulder and snatched up the blue Tiffany's box. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked.

She tried to snag it back before he opened it. "Bill, give that back."

He opened it and pulled out a platinum replica of the sword he and his boys wore. "You kept it."

"Bill, I can't do this with you, just give it back so I can lock it up."

He stared at it for a long moment, the longing to return it to Steffy's neck clear in the look on his face. But finally, he nodded, and gave it back. "Thank you," she whispered.

Bill nodded again, returning to the couch. He grabbed the wine bottle and took a mouthful. "How are you really?"

Steffy released a heavy breath and joined him on her couch again, relieved that he was letting her sidestep their emotional baggage for now. "Exhausted, overwhelmed, sad, relieved, confused, frustrated, guilty," she admitted. "I love Liam, and I believed in him. In us. I was willing to fight for our marriage."

"But my idiot son wasn't?" Bill asked in disgust.

"He was… right up until I told him about my indiscretion with an unnamed friend," she admitted. "He wanted a name more than he wanted our marriage."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Bill asked, pulling her feet into his lap and rubbing them.

"Because no good would have come of it," Steffy replied. "My marriage would still be over, but so would your relationship with your son. I never wanted that for either of you."

"No, you didn't." Bill caressed her cheek. "You fought harder for us than anyone."

Steffy allowed herself to melt into his touch for a few moments and then pulled herself away. "This can't happen anymore," she said gesturing between them. "You're one of my closest friends and I cherish that, but I can't give you what you want. I'm your son's wife. Whatever sexual component is happening has to be over."

"No."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** **_Warning:_** _Rated M as there may be some more strong sexual healing. If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 7**  
Steffy had been through a great deal of emotional upheaval in a short time, and was looking to focus on getting herself back on track, not jump into another relationship. Especially not one that would be as intense and as all-consuming as one with Bill would be. So she told him that while she valued his friendship, it would need go back to a non-sexual relationship. And she was floored by the way he unflinchingly told her no as he continued messaging her feet as if nothing out of the norm was happening. "Excuse me. No?"

"Mmhmm," he confirmed, then looked up. "Got any lotion?"

"Excuse me?" Steffy goggled sitting up and trying to pull her feet from his lap. "Have you lost your mind? I tell you we need to stop having sex, and you say no and ask me for some lotion? Really?"

"Really." Bill held his nonchalant, unbothered expression for a few moments longer. Finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you didn't have a set of signed divorce papers on your coffee table, I might have accepted your little pronouncement. But you do, so no."

Steffy scoffed, "And what my feelings on the topic don't matter? Bill, I get that you're arrogant, but even you can't be this arrogant. You can't just decide that something like that for me."

"You don't think I can't be convincing enough to change your mind?" he asked, and then proceeded to prove his point by hitting a pressure point in her foot that sent pleasure shooting through her and tore an embarrassingly high-pitched moan from her throat. "Still want me to stop?"

"No," she moaned without thinking. Once she heard herself, she pulled her feet away from him and under her out of his reach, earning her a smug grin. "Yes! I meant, yes. Bill, there's no question that I'm attracted to you. I always have been, Liam or no Liam. And God knows you're a very talented lover, but that's not the point."

"It's not?" Bill smirked.

"I didn't say that to stroke your ego, Bill." Steffy rolled her eyes. "If that was my goal, I would have reached a lot lower."

"Any time."

"Stop!" Steffy snapped. "Look, I care about you, Bill! A lot. But my marriage **to your son** is ending. I'm not in a place emotionally where I could even consider starting something up with you. We were so intense and I know you love me, but I—"

"Now, it's your turn to stop," Bill cut in. "I love you. I'm in love with you. I have been for years, and despite every attempt to fight it, and put obstacles between us, it never changed anything. You reached inside me, and a took a piece of my heart that no one else could ever hope to touch." A tear fell down Steffy's cheek, and Bill gently wiped it away. "And I wouldn't trust anyone else with it, if they could. But as well as you know me don't you think that I know you just as well? I'm not asking you to reciprocate my feelings. I'm not that selfish. Not with you. You're not responsible for my feelings. I am. And nothing in my life has ever made me happier than being with you in any capacity. As friends or lovers or anything else."

"But Bill—"

"Steffy trust me," he continued. "I'm not asking you to fall back in love with me or to marry me. Hell, if that's what I wanted we would be halfway to the Dominican Republic with those papers right now." Steffy chuckled as tears glimmered in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks faster than he could catch. "You're my best friend aside from Justin so if you say you really don't want us to be intimate because you aren't comfortable with it, I will accept it. But if you're doing it for an unselfish reason… to protect my son's feelings or mine or our relationship? Don't. It's not your responsibility. We're all grown." Steffy frowned as she considered his words. "I'm going to love you either way, but I hate to see you hurting. If a little flirting can put that incredible smile on your face and back into your breathtaking eyes, I'll flirt. If giving you pleasure can help chase away the pain, then it would be my honor to pleasure you until neither of us can stand it. Never think that being close to you isn't exactly where I want to be, no matter how."

Steffy cupped his cheek and kissed him tenderly. "I miss the woman I see in your eyes when you look at me," she admitted. "So if you're sure you can handle keeping it light, I guess it would be ok."

"I'm fine with that," he replied. "How do you want to tell Liam?"

"I don't," she replied grabbing the bottle of wine and settling back on her side of the couch. "The moment he signed those papers, it stopped being his business what I do. Like you said we're grown adults. I don't plan to tell anyone outside of maybe my mom, and I figure you won't confide in anyone other than Justin. Maybe Alison so she can help run interference. As far as anyone else knows, we're friends and soon-to-be former in-laws."

"And if Liam starts to suspect I was the friend you cheated with?" Bill asked pulling Steffy into his lap.

Steffy ran her fingers through his thick, dark locks. "I'll follow your lead," she answered. "I'll only be his wife for another six months; you'll be his father forever. I'd rather not deal with the histrionics, though, personally. That ok with you?"

Bill gripped her but and pulled her closer until their centers lined up, and she could feel his growing arousal. "What do you think?" And without another word, he dove into her mouth for a voracious kiss.

* * *

The kiss quickly escalated. And soon, Steffy was rocking against Bill's growing erection, and her robe was an afterthought hanging off her shoulders. When his lips slipped down to her throat, one hand clinched reflexively in his hair, while the other gripped the collar of her shirt at the nape of his neck. Suddenly, Bill's grip shifted, and he was standing. "What—?"

"Let's take this upstairs before we ruin this couch," he explained, as she attacked his jawline.

"Doesn't matter," she argued, biting his chin as one hand trailed down his chest. "You already promised to have it cleaned."

"Wanted to get us into a more comfortable position," he stammered, as he made his way up the stairs with Steffy clinging to him as she kissed, nibbled, caressed, and tried to undress him.

"Me, too," she breathed, biting his bottom lip while her hand reached inside his pants and grabbed him. "You inside of me."

Bill's knees buckled. "Ah, God, Steffy!" he gasped as he stumbled into the wall beside her bedroom door. Using the wall to hold them up, Bill succumbed to his need for her, and sank deep into her mouth.

She loved the way he touched her. It drove her crazy and made her unable to wait. Her nimble fingers unbuckled his belt and released him from his pants with a minimum of fumbling.

"We're only a few feet away from your bed," Bill groaned as she gripped him firmly.

"Too. Far. Now," Steffy managed as she slid him inside her. And overcome by the feeling of connection, they froze, taking a moment to savor what they had had waited so long to share.

Bill threw his head back at the same moment as Steffy. Their eyes connected, neither willing or able to their need for each other. They just were who they were, and needed what they needed when. They were connected inside their world. It was something so magical and rare. But it was simplest thing on Earth when they were together.

They're momentary connection felt like an eternity shared in seconds, then Steffy spoke to words that set them ablaze. Two words that even as bold & sexually open as she was, she had never spoken to a man: "Fcuk me."

Bill's eyes lit up with hunger and aggression that sent delicious chills down her spine. "My pleasure," he growled. "Hold on."

Bill pulled himself back until her desperate whine filled the air and only his tip rest inside her clenching body. Steffy's fingers clawed his back through the fabric of his shirt as she tightened her legs to try to force him to move. Bill grabbed her wrists and slammed them against the wall above her head, enjoying the hint of fear that entered her passion-dazed gaze. "You're mine now." His voice rumbled against her chest, increasing the slight tremors overtaking her body.

In the next instant, Bill was impaling her so deep she imagined she could feel him her throat. He continued that slow, rough, deep rhythm for a few strokes, but soon began gaining speed when he couldn't hold himself back from marking her from the inside out. And while his hands kept hers trapped above her head, his mouth was insatiably drawn to taste, kid and nibble every inch of skin he could reach. By the time, he reached the spot below her ear, he'd begun speaking. Whether Bill was even aware of it, Steffy could be sure, but he hissed and growled the filthiest, most delicious promises about what he would do to her and how he would make her feel and how no one would ever be able to touch her without her think of him again. It was overwhelming and incredible.

Steffy felt pleasure filling her as every second passed until it all became to much and stars burst behind her eyes. She dully recognized Bill's roar of ecstasy over the roaring in her ears. His head fell to her shoulder, and his hands released their grip on her wrists. After a long moment, Bill regained his bearings enough to carry Steffy's dead weight into her bedroom and drop her on the bed. When his weight collapsed on her body, she felt a shift between her legs as his softened cock slipped free of her. Steffy tightened her arms and legs around his body to keep him close. Wrapped in each other, they drifted into a peaceful sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** **_Warning:_** _Rated T for a touch of edgy language. If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 8**  
Steffy woke deliciously sore, but alone. Stretching her aching body, she looked around and frowned as the night before came back to her. She dragged her hair back from her face as doubts that pleasure had chased away began to take root. What had she been thinking agreeing to be Bill's fuck buddy? An image of his face between her legs flashed through her mind in answer. "Ok," she thought out loud, with a smirk. "It's definitely nice not having to be in charge of get myself off all the time."

A knock on the front door of her loft interrupted her conflicted thoughts. "Coming!" she called. Reaching for the thick terry cloth robe she had somehow missed when Bill arrived the night before, she rushed down the stairs to answer, a grin spreading across her face unconsciously. "Hey you!" she chirped as she opened the door only for her expression to fall slightly. "Oh, Mom! Hey!"

Taylor accepted the hug her daughter offered, but lifted an eyebrow at her daughter's demeanor. "Yes, your mother who hasn't heard from you since yesterday when you left her to move back here."

"Sorry, mom," Steffy grumbled, feeling appropriately scolded for not calling on her own. "Just needed some time to sort through things."

"Uh-huh," Taylor responded. "Whatever it was you did I completely approve. You look absolutely radiant, and that grin on your face when you thought I was whoever is responsible for that glow. So was it Liam or Bill?"

"Mom!" Steffy groaned heading toward her kitchen to find a tray with cooling coffee, eggs, bacon, and toast on a tray. Her earlier smile returned at the sweet gesture. Looking around, she realized for the first time he had also cleaned up a bit so it wasn't completely obvious what had happened between them the night before.

A hand snapping in her face brought Steffy back to the moment. "Earth to Steffy," she chuckled unable to hold back in the face of her dreamy daughter. "Ok, I'm going to leave you to your breakfast. I've seen enough. I don't need details right now, but you'll owe me lunch."

"I, uh, sure," Steffy agreed. "Thanks."

"I'm sorry I missed waking you, babe," a deep voice said as he came down the stairs pulling on his shirt. "I was planning to—surprise you. Hello Taylor."

She cleared throat as she fought to maintain a stoic expression. "Bill," she greeted, tossing her daughter a glance as if to say "Well, that answers one question". "I was just on my way out. Now Steffy, be sure to text me once you have confirmed a reservation for lunch. Don't make me hunt you down."

As she passed by Bill, she paused and looked him in the eye. "Be careful with her."

"Mom!"

"I promise," Bill replied soberly. "I will never intentionally hurt her again. I swear."

"See that you don't," Taylor warned.

"Mother!"

"I'm leaving. I'm leaving," Taylor huffed biting back a laugh as she let herself out. "Don't forget lunch!"

* * *

Bill and Steffy looked at each other for a long moment in the silence and then both erupted into laughter. "That wasn't at all awkward, huh?" Steffy chuckled dropping her face in her hands.

"Hey, it went way better than I could have ever imagined," Bill admitted sounding relieved.

"Oh, really?" Steffy teased, lifting her face to look at him unable to completely hide smile threatening to take over. "Is the big bad Dollar Bill scared of my psychiatrist mother?"

"Yes," he admitted as he wrapped his arms around her. "Your mother is one tough cookie. Which makes sense since she raised such a strong, powerful, kickass daughter."

"I always thought of Phoebe as the sweet one anyway," she joked, melting into his embrace. That earned a bark of laughter. "Thank you. I don't see that in myself right now, but it means a lot that you do."

"Always," he whispered before taking her mouth for a quick but passionate kiss.

"Mmmm," Steffy hummed happily. "And thank you for breakfast."

"It's cold now," he huffed in annoyance.

"It's the thought," she assured with another quick kiss before she pulled away. "What woke you so early and where were you? I thought you'd left."

"Without saying goodbye?" Bill asked with a frown.

Steffy shrugged and dabbed some jam on her toast. "You left breakfast."

"Not my style. Especially not with you." Bill caressed her cheek. "But to answer your question, Justin called me about an emergency in Asia that needed my attention so when everything was ready I went to your spare room to finish the call. Guess it took longer than expected."

"Everything under control?" Steffy asked as she shoveled lukewarm eggs into her mouth.

"Just a new project that I've been trying to get back on track since taking back the reigns," Bill grunted, snatching up a piece of Steffy's bacon. "That damn kid managed to ruffle more than a few feathers while in charge, I'm still working to restore confidence."

"If you need a sympathetic ear to bounce ideas off of, I'm always open," Steffy offered as she nibbled her toast.

"I may take you up on your offer," Bill practically purred flirtatiously. "What are your plans for the day? Besides lunch with Taylor."

"Drop off the divorce papers at my attorney's and head into work. Get caught up and maybe catch a few meetings that weren't able to be postponed because of the accident at Spectra. You?"

"Same," Bill admitted. "Although, you won't need to drop anything off."

"Bill," she scoffed. "I figure it's more important than ever that I file for my divorce. Especially after last night."

"No, I just meant I had a courier pick them up a few hours ago," Bill explained, grabbing another piece of bacon.

Steffy smacked him. "Bill!"

"What?" He asked bewildered. "It's only a couple pieces. I'll cook you more if you want."

"No!" Steffy rolled her eyes. "I mean, maybe. That's not why I smacked you. I'm more than capable of handling my own business, including filing my own divorce."

"Of course, you are," Bill replied. "I just—I know how stressed you've been and I figured it could be one less worry. I want to be good for you."

"Bill," she scoffed, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. "You are. I appreciate the sentiment, but you wouldn't be here now if you didn't make me feel like my life was better with you in it. You're way too big a complication to risk without a pretty significant reward attached. But I need you to let me handle my own affairs, ok?" He sighed but nodded. "Thank you for thinking of me, though."

Steffy allowed him to pull her into another passionate kiss, but this time they both chose to linger. "You're all I think about," he admitted.

"That doesn't bode well for the future of Spencer Publications," she joked, putting space between them. She began pushing him toward the door. "Now it's time for you to get a change of clothes and go to work. And to stop stealing my bacon."

"I knew there was an ulterior motive at play here," he chuckled, allowing her to push him out her front door. "Call or text me later."

"I will," she assured him, feeling that stupid giddy grin taking over again. "Now, go."

He snuck one more kiss before she shut the door. "Bye."

Sliding down the closed door, doubts & insecurities began to slip back in as she sat alone. "Bye, Bill," she whispered into the silence. After a moment, she forced herself to shake off her self-doubt and just take things one step at a time. Resolved, she headed upstairs to get dressed for work.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 9**  
Steffy wasn't sure what she expected on her first day back, but Hope Logan in her seat wasn't it. She froze as that trickle of insecurity and disgust she'd associated with her sometime stepsister. But before she allowed it to take root, she sucked in a deep, silent breath and eyed the blonde objectively. She looked good. Milan had obviously treated her well. Shaking off the urge to be defensive, Steffy pasted a pleasant smile on her face and entered her office briskly. "Hello, Hope."

"Steffy!" Hope gasped, as her head jerked up clearly caught off guard.

"That's what the name on the door says," Steffy replied lightly, eyeing her with a brow lifted.

Hope frowned at the way Steffy was looking at her until realization hit her and she shot to her feet. "Oh!" She quickly and awkwardly made her way around the desk. "Sorry," she added, blushing in embarrassment. "Eric mentioned leaving a report in here and I just got so wrapped up."

"Happens to the best of us," Steffy replied trying to maintain her light tone, as she moved around the opposite side of the desk to avoid having to observe any awkward welcome gestures. "I'm sure if you need a copy of anything during your visit Aunt Pam would be happy to get it for you."

Hope's gaze had dropped and a thick silence fell between them. "Are you and Liam having problems? I thought everything was going so well."

"Excuse me?" Steffy asked coldly, lifting her gaze from the documents she'd begun perusing as she settled in.

"Sorry," Hope stuttered not used to such an icy reception from Steffy. Anger, frustration, annoyance, even a bit of despair that she now understood well, but never this coldness. "I noticed your ring wasn't—but that's none of my business. I'm sorry. It was a stupid assumption anyway. You're glowing. I'm sure you're having it cleaned or something."

"I'm sure it doesn't matter what is or isn't happening in **my** marriage," Steffy shot back.

Hope took a deep breath. "You're right," she agreed, straightening her back before this more intimidating version of the brunette she thought she knew. "I should get going. It was nice seeing you." Hope turned to leave but paused. "I didn't come back to cause problems between you & Liam, Steffy."

"Good," Steffy replied, warming. "Because you couldn't. Our problems or happinesses are on us and us alone. Whether or not our marriage sinks or swims is on us alone. I'm not childish enough to blame outside forces for my own choices." She let that sink in before glancing up to make eye contact with the flustered blonde. "Feel free to see him for yourself if you like. But if you'll excuse me, as co-CEO, I have lot to wrap up before we close for Thanksgiving weekend."

"Of course." Hope nodded, and slipped out closing the door behind her.

As soon as she was alone, Steffy threw her pen down and stopped pretending to work. She picked up her phone and sent the same text to two of her contacts: ['Hope is back.']

* * *

Before either party could respond, there was a knock on the door followed by a head poking in. "Honey," Ridge said. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure," Steffy replied. "If it's about the expansion projections, I'm still reviewing the revisions."

"Uh, not exactly," Ridge answered with a sigh. He cleared his throat.

Steffy eyed her father for a long moment. "I already know Hope is back. And before you or grandfather ask, I'll run the numbers to confirm, but with the expansions in the works, I'm saying no to a HFTF relaunch."

He released a heavy breath. "How did you hear?"

"She was waiting for me in my office when I arrived this morning," Steffy answered matter-of-factly, before turning back to the spreadsheets in front of her. "Something about Grandfather sending her in her to review some report or another." She shrugged. "I'll have to have Pam expedite the new file cabinets with the key locks. I want our information secured by close of business."

"You think Hope is up to something?" Ridge asked confused that his daughter seemed solely concerned about her sometime-stepsister in the business arena. "Come on, Steffy. I know it must have been hard to see her, but you & Liam—"

"Are divorcing," she finished, shocking her father silent. "It has nothing to do with the princess, Dad. Stop worrying. Liam & I hit a crossroads, and decided we'd be better off going our separate ways."

"Oh, honey."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," came Pam's voice as she carried a massive bouquet of two dozen pristine red roses into her office. "Sorry to interrupt. These came for you, Steffy. Looks like someone is hoping to reconcile."

Steffy snagged the the card and opened it: 'I thought with everything on your mind you deserved something to make you smile. Something besides me. Don't forget to check in with me.'

"It looks like it's working if that smile is any indication," Pam quipped. Ridge nodded and smiled.

Steffy cleared her throat. "They're not from Liam," Steffy admitted, wiping the smile off her face as she focused on tucking the card away from prying eyes.

"No, they're not," Liam agreed, standing in the doorway holding a much smaller bouquet of assorted spring flowers. "I was hoping we could talk."

Ridge and Pam eyed the two carefully before Pam was scooping up Liam's flowers, and pushing Ridge towards the door. "How about I take these and get them in water? Your next meeting isn't for half an hour, Stef."

"Pam, can you schedule me a reservation for two? Lunch today at the Four Seasons," Steffy called. Pam paused stiffening, but nodded and continued out.

"So now your 'friend' is taking you out for lunch in addition to sending you flowers?" Liam snapped unable to control the jealous sneer in his tone.

"No," Steffy said simply allowing him to squirm a bit before explaining. "My mother is in town."

"Oh!" His eyes grew wide and an embarrassed flush filled his cheeks, as he tucked his hands in his pockets. "And she loves the Four Seasons."

"It is her favorite," she agreed. "Not that it really matters since it's not really any of your business anymore. So! How can I help you, Liam? If you were hoping for an exclusive about Hope's return & whether we'll be rebooting HFTF, the answer is no, we will not, and I'm not apprised of Hope's plans for this visit beyond that."

"Hope's back?" Liam asked shocked.

"She sure is," Steffy said coolly watching him carefully for a response despite herself. "I'm sure if you ask Pam or Brooke one of them could direct you to her."

Liam seemed to get hold of himself pretty quickly. "I'm not here for Hope. I'll admit hearing she's back threw me off, but what Hope and I had is in the past. I came here for you."

"Sorry, But I have no exclusives for you today, Liam, so if that was it—" Steffy replied, refusing to let him reach under her walls. Moving toward the door, only to be stopped by a hand on her arm.

"It's not," he said earnestly. "I made a mistake signing those papers in anger that way. But Steffy, I love you. I want our marriage to work. I don't want to lose us. Let's do counseling. Let's fight for our marriage. I _want_ to fight for our marriage."

A shiver ran down her spine as memories of happier times with her husband warred with the memories of gleefully making love with his father secure in the belief that her marriage was over. "I'm not sure I do," she heard herself admit without thinking.

* * *

Liam had been halfway to embracing her stiff form when her words registered. "Steffy?"

"I said," she began clearing her throat when it became shaky. Determinedly firming her voice, she continued, "I said that I'm not sure I want to fight for our marriage." She stiffly moved out of his reach. "And I'm honestly not."

"Baby, what changed between last night and this morning?" Liam asked his voice raw and sounding devastated. "Why are you willing to give up on us now when last night you were ready to fight for our future?"

"Maybe because you were willing to throw everything we were away over a name! Throw ME away!" Steffy exclaimed with her back to her husband as she tried to hold in her emotions. "I screwed up and I expected your hurt and your anger. I deserved it. But the only thing that seemed to matter to you was who your competition might be." She turned to look at him not hiding the tears in her eyes. "Maybe I'm sick of not being worth more to you than the next triangle. Maybe I'm sick of not feeling like I'm enough for the man who is supposed to love me for exactly who I am, unconditionally. Maybe I finally realized I deserve a hell of a lot better than what you're willing to offer."

"Steffy, baby, please, I was upset," Liam explained reaching for her, but Steffy was not allowing anymore physical contact. "I know I hurt you and I'm so sorry. You have to know I love you. More than anything. Please believe me."

"That's the thing," Steffy admitted sadly. "I believe that **you** believe what you're saying. But do I believe it? Not anymore. I can't keep falling behind your needs, your principles, hell, your ego. I need to be with someone who loves and respects and values me. Even if I'm the only one who can."

A tear fell down Liam's cheek. "Steffy—"

"You need to go, Liam," Steffy said calmly pulling herself together as she grabbed some papers from her desk. "Time's up. Goodbye." She walked to Liam's side and kissed him one last time, mentally saying goodbye to the man who had been her world for over six years. And then she swept out of her office leaving a lost and heartbroken Liam in her wake on her way to the conference room for her meeting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** **_Warning:_** _Rated M for strong language and highly sexual situations. Yeah, we got a little 50 Shades of Still on this chapter to borrow a phrase. If that's not your cup of tea, stop when Steffy gets up from the table, and catch me on the next update… how 'bout dat? lol As always, if you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 10  
**

Taylor was seated looking at her phone to pass the time when her daughter came barreling into the restaurant of the Four Seasons appearing to be on a mission. The welcoming smile she offered as she drew closer was so weak it made Taylor even more concerned for her daughter's state of mind. "Hey mom," Steffy greeted with a hard smile.

"Hello, dear," Taylor replied distractedly as she continued eying Steffy carefully as if she could see everything without her daughter having to say a word.

Steffy sighed as she took her seat. She caught the look on her mother's face and rolled her eyes. "Ok, it's been a stressful morning, but I'm fine."

Taylor seemed to consider this for a moment before discarding it. Shaking her head, she shot back, "No."

"No?"

"No," Taylor reasserted. "This is not the daughter I left behind this morning, and professional craziness energizes you. You live to bring order to chaos in a professional setting, so this has to be personal. What did Brooke's mini-me say to you? And why am I going to have to remind you not to let the little gnat get to you?"

"Because you're not," Steffy remarked, showing her first signs of amusement since arriving. "She's more of a non-factor now than she was before."

"Then it has to be Liam," Taylor huffed, her fists tightening in concert with Steffy's expression and body. "What did the little jerk do now?"

"Mom!" Steffy gasped, laughing in shock at her mom's uncharacteristic choice to insult her husband. "He just stopped by to suggest we try again."

"Of course, he did," her mother grumbled. "What is it about these men that they can tell just when you're ready to let them go and there they are to try to drag you back under."

Steffy's eyes widen at the accuracy of Taylor's assessment. Then, something hit her, and she squinted at her mother. "Which one?"

Taylor sighed. "Your father has been texting me, and the more I try to keep things friendly, the more flirtatious and—" She stopped when she realized her audience. Steffy raised a questioning eyebrow. "Doesn't matter. I'm done having that kind of relationship with your father. He can't be trusted with my heart any more than Liam can be trusted with yours."

"Uh huh…"

"What's going on with you and Bill?" Taylor asked, determined to change the subject. "Are you sure he's the one you want to rebound with?"

"Not even that deep," Steffy replied, a smile slipped past her guard. "We're friends with benefits. I made it clear I can't handle more than that since I'm kinda married."

"Then what's wrong?"

Steffy sighed as she let her inner conflict show on her face. "Maybe I should end the, uh, benefits package, and try to make my marriage work," Steffy answered despondently.

"So give up something that makes you happier than I've seen you in a long time and that has been helping you rebuild your self-confidence almost instantaneously… to go back to trying to shrink yourself into someone you feel will make Liam happy?" Taylor eyed her daughter. "Do I need to smack you?"

"Smack me?" Steffy chucked. "Really, Mom? Are you ok?"

"I'm just fine," Taylor replied rolling her eyes. "And yes, smack you! Do you want to end up like your grandmother? Because I refuse. Sometimes, you have to be able to love yourself enough to be loyal to yourself even more than your loved ones. Stephanie might not have missed her chance with some pretty incredible men if not for being blinded by your grandfather's charms."

"Mom!"

"And I'm not being bitter, honey, I'm being real," Taylor continued. "Much like your father, your grandfather can be a really great man when he chooses to be, but too often, he's only as loyal as his options. And he's a straight man working in fashion who has kids with a Logan… he'll always have options."

Steffy's mind whirled as she considered her mother's words. "Like Liam working for a media company like Spencer," she mumbled.

"At the end, your grandmother had thrown away her freedom and had no energy left to fight," Taylor finished. "I don't want that kind of life for either of us. We're going to break the cycle. We're going to learn to be a little more selfish and fight for our own best interests a little more."

Steffy considered her mother's words and felt them strike a chord deep inside. "Excuse me, I'll be right back," Steffy told her mother before heading toward the restroom.

* * *

Steffy distractedly made her way between tables and just as she passed an individual handicap/family lavatory, an arm reached out and grabbed her. In her shock, it took her a moment to respond. By the time her fight-or-flight reflex was kicking in and she'd begun fighting back, she was bent over a metal guardrail with her skirt being lifted up her legs. But then a very familiar scent had her hesitating again as teeth bit into her neck. "Bill?"

"I told you to call or text me," his husky voice replied seconds before two of his thick fingers were thrust deep into her. "You're already wet for me. Did your body know it was daddy? Or were you excited to give away my pussy to some stranger?"

Steffy felt chills run down her spine and goose bumps rise all over her skin. "Oh god, Bill!" She gasped as his pumping fingers were suddenly ripped from her body. "Please."

"Tell me who's pretty pussy this is and you'll get your reward," he whispered against her ear as finally she felt his cock nudge her sopping lips.

"Please," she heard herself beg.

Bill grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head up so she was no longer bent nearly in half over the guardrail. "Say it!" he hissed, sharply biting her earlobe. "Who owns your body, Steffy?!"

"You do, Bill," she gasped mindlessly, sinking deeper into the edgy fantasy Bill was creating around them. "Please, fuck me! Fuck your girl, please. Fill your pussy up!"

A secret smile spread across his face, that he hid by kissing Steffy savagely. And while her mind was full of his kiss, he shoved deep inside her needy body. She felt so overwhelmed as he fucked her brutally, that strangled, desperate noises poured from her throat and began filling the air around them. "Shh," he whispered into her ear, wrapping a warning hand across her throat. "You don't want people to know what a dirty girl you are, do you? That Steffy Forrester likes getting fucked raw from the back like an animal by her daddy-in-law? What would your husband—my son—think? Or your brother or dear ol' dad, Ridge?"

Tremors raced through her body, as his words painted a vivid picture that only pushed her closer to climax. "Please…" she begged desperately her voice barely above a whisper.

Bill's left hand released her hip and slipped between her legs and in a matter of seconds, she was a needy sobbing pile of ecstasy only held upright by Bill's hands between her legs & at her throat and the metal guardrail at her waist.

Bill followed her moments later, as he brought her mouth to his to muffle his own cries of ecstasy in a desperate, hungry kiss. As they slowly came down from their peak, a knock on the door brought them back to reality. "Steffy?" Taylor called.

Steffy's eyes bulged. "Please, tell me you locked that," she asked frantically trying to separate herself from Bill.

"Can't remember," he teased, as he helped her fix her clothes. "Guess we'll find out."

"Bill!" Steffy shrieked as quietly as possible as he nonchalantly slipped himself back into his jeans and secured them. "This isn't a joke."

He simply grinned and brought his left hand to his lips and began licking his fingers clean. "Yes, ma'am."

"Steffy!"

"Just a second, Mom!" came her strangled reply as heat suffused her.

Bill's grinned widened as he finished licking his fingers clean. "Next time, I tell you to call or text me," he said scooping her in his arms and spinning her around until he had her trapped against the door, "you call or text me."

"Are you threatening me with a good time?" she asked breathing heavily.

"Take it however you want, my beautiful Steffy," Bill answered. "But know that if you do, I'll just have to take you however I want."

Steffy gulped at the possibilities but didn't back down. "We'll see."

Bill laughed and reached for the door. "Give me a few before you come out." He dropped one more kiss on her mouth before opening the door slightly, and meeting Taylor face-to-face. "Nice to see you again, Taylor. You two enjoy the rest of your lunch. It's on me, and see if you can't talk her into a mother/daughter massage while you're at it. She works too hard."

Taylor goggled and stared after him as he calmly walked away. Neither noticed the shadowy figure who snapped a shot before sneaking off to avoid being caught taking paparazzi pictures inside the hotel.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. If you don't watch regularly and don't recognize a character that's from the show… I still didn't create it, nor do I own it._ _ **FYI—**_ _This fic as a whole is rated M, so I'll only add rating warnings on updates that fully live up to the rating going forward. Just expect some adult language here and there since I don't have to worry about Daytime TV censors. Hope you're still enjoying this story!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 11  
** Steffy and Taylor sat in silence across from each other. Steffy ate hungrily while her mother toyed with her meal. Feeling her mother's discomfort with remaining quiet for so long, Steffy sighed. "So that happened."

"Really?" Taylor giggled at her daughter's choice of opening. "That's all you have to say for yourself?"

"Steak is good."

"Steffy!" Taylor hissed, gaining an eye roll.

"Fine," she relented sipping her lemonade. "He sent me a couple dozen roses as reminder for me to check in with him. But Liam showed up and then I had back-to-back meetings before lunch, so I didn't get around to it." Steffy shrugged. "I was gonna shoot him a text after lunch, but I guess he got impatient."

Tension melted from Taylor's shoulders as she watched her daughter fight to hide a pleased smile. "Ok."

"Ok?" Steffy parroted confused by her mother's uncharacteristic behavior of late. "That's it?" Taylor's nod made Steffy's suspicions rise. "No questions?"

"Well, since you mentioned it, maybe one." Taylor chuckled at Steffy's groan. "Are you still thinking of ending that benefits package and making things work with Liam?"

"Huh?" She was not expecting that question and in fact hadn't even thought of her estranged husband since his father had blown the top off of her head. "Uh, What?"

"Simple question: Are you going to give your husband another chance?"

"I would love to know the answer to that as well," Liam said stepping up to their table seemingly out of thin air.

"Liam?!"

* * *

Steffy & Taylor were both stunned by Liam's sudden arrival. "What are you doing here?" Steffy hissed, off-balance and trying to keep her composure. "How did you even know where I would be?"

"I was there when you had Pam make the reservation for lunch, remember?" He waited for recognition to light in her eyes to continue. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Taylor, but Steffy, I hated the way we left things."

"So you thought it would be a good idea to ambush my lunch with my mother who I haven't seen face-to-face in months because we've been living on separate continents instead of I don't know texting me to suggest we get dinner or scheduling an appointment or something?"

Liam's shoulders sagged. "I thought about stopping by your place, but I don't know where that is."

"Have you asked?" Steffy shot back feeling defensive as he appeared to deflate further in the face of her lack of welcome. She took a deep breath and tried to regroup, but her mother chose that moment to intervene.

"Hello to you, too, Liam," she said coolly snapping his attention to her.

"Taylor—"

"Dr. Hayes will do."

He swallowed heavily. "Right. Um, how are you, Dr. Hayes?"

"I was great before my daughter and I were so rudely interrupted. And you?"

Liam was not prepared or sure how to handle such obvious hostility from Steffy's usually congenial mother.

"Mom," Steffy said, hinting that while her reaction was appreciated it wasn't necessary. "Look, I'm not leaving town. If you want to do lunch or dinner, just ask. I'll make room, but you have to stop with the ambushes. Ok?"

"Ok," he accepted unsure how else to respond.

Before he could say more, Steffy stood and reached for her purse. "I have another meeting this afternoon, so I should get a move on. You coming in with me to say hi to everyone, mom?"

"Sure," honey," Taylor agreed. "Your father has been raving over the Spring line and after last season, I'm curious. Plus, I'd love t check in with Pam. Don't worry about lunch. I'll meet you in the lobby. Goodbye, Liam."

"Thanks, Mom." "Goodbye, Dr. Hayes."

They waited for the older woman to be out of earshot. "I'm sorry," Liam reiterated. "I should have called."

"Look, we're going to be married for another six months at least, and hopefully friends for years after that, but whether I agree to therapy or not, I need my space right now."

"I get it."

"Thank you," Steffy said. She kissed him on the cheek and walked away, leaving Liam behind once again.

Steffy led her mother into the elevator at Forrester in silence. "So after you say hi to Pam and sneak a peek at the collection, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" she asked, trying to keep things light so her mother wouldn't be tempted to delve deeper when she needed to focus on finishing her workday.

"Thought I'd stop by the old practice," Taylor replied following her daughter's lead as they exited the elevator. "It'll be good to see the old stomping grounds and see how things are going with my replacement firsthand."

"You're irreplaceable," a gravelly voice interjected from behind them. "Anyone who tried would be the ultimate moron."

"You should know, Ridge," Taylor quipped with an amused smirk as she glanced over her shoulder. "You've tried often enough."

"Mom!" Steffy squealed, fighting down laughter. Standing beside her mother and father as they stared intensely at each other gave her a strangely nostalgic feeling. She wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not.

"Now, Doc," Ridge practically purred as he crowded her, since Taylor refused to back down from his advances. "I could never replace you. I would never try."

Steffy goggled as much at the flirtatious quality of their banter as at the blatant, if charming, lie her father just spoke. "Um…"

"How is Brooke?" Taylor asked with a raised eyebrow. It seemed the harsher her mother's words, the more appealing her father found her.

"Um, not that watching my parents engage in weirdly aggressive, verbal foreplay isn't totally uncomfortable and more than a little disturbing," Steffy rambled backing away. "I have work to do, so stop in to say goodbye when you leave, Mom." When she got no response just a continuation of their staring match. "Or text me. Whatever. Bye."

When she received their distracted nods, Steffy escaped to her office before they started their next round of oddly-charged banter. But even her office didn't seem to be safe.

"I really missed you," Hope breathed, caressing Wyatt's cheek.

Wyatt looked blindsided for a moment before pulling away. "Look, Hope, a part of me will always love you." He admitted. "We were husband and wife. We were going to have a child, but things have changed. Ivy and I… we made mistakes, but we learned from them. One of the things we learned was to run **to** each other in the hard times. Not away. I trust her, and she trusts me. What we had has to remain in the past."

"But Wyatt—"

The door slammed shut interrupting whatever Hope was going to say. "Did I miss a memo about a meeting?" Steffy asked, eyeing them, but trying not reveal how much she'd seen.

"No!" Wyatt blurted nervously before clearing his throat and trying again. "No. I was going to see if I could discuss the jewelry budget with you when I guess Hope saw me and… well, she's back.

"Ah," Steffy replied, pretending to be appeased by the answer as she looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, I hate to hold you up, Hope, so feel free to get back to whatever it is you were doing before you saw Wyatt." Feeling she'd effectively dismissed the other woman, Steffy focused all her attention on Wyatt as she rounded her desk. "I've already told your girlfriend and Quinn, that with the expansion we're all going to have to tighten our belts."

Wyatt looked between the two women nervously a few times, and then decided to focus on business as well. "I get that, and while I understand, I think if we can get a little wiggle room, we can do something really special in coordination with the expansion. And it would require only a small reallocation of funds. Here look at my calculations."

Seeing she had truly been dismissed, Hope growled. "We'll y'all later, Wyatt. Bye Steffy."

"Uh-huh," Steffy said clearly focused on the paperwork in front of her. But Wyatt gave her a small, awkward smile and a wave. Once the door shut behind the blonde, Steffy lifted her gaze and zeroed in on Wyatt. "Do what you need to do to get closure or go back to her and try again, if you must. But be honest with Ivy. And while you're at it, know that if you hurt my cousin by waffling between them, I will make you wish you never heard the name Forrester."

"Steffy, what Hope and I had is in the past, I swear," Wyatt swore urgently. "I was just thrown off seeing her again. You have to understand what it's like for me to see her after… everything." Steffy nodded in understanding. "But I'm committed to my relationship with Ivy. I've been planning to ask her to move back in with me. I won't screw this up by getting distracted by nostalgia."

Steffy eyed him carefully, before turning her gaze back to the documents before her. "See that you don't," she said. "But if you do, consider your ass grass, and I'll be the lawnmower. We clear?"

Wyatt shivered as she pinned him with her gaze again. This was a side of Steffy Forrester he'd never seen, and one he'd gladly avoid ever seeing again. "Understood."

"Good," Steffy replied. "I'm gonna look these over and get back to you on my decision after I review it with Dad, ok?"

"Thanks," he said swallowing hard in relief at the returning warmth in her expression. "I'll get out of your hair then. Thanks for hearing me out."

"My pleasure," she replied opening her laptop and comparing his report to something she pulled up. Wyatt made his escape gladly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: ****_Warning_** _: Rated **M** for strong language and sexual situations. Also, if you're enjoying this and want more Steffy & Bill, be sure to check out my friend _Skye1288 _'s fic, Feel This(A Still Fic)[/s/12845156/1/Feel-This-A-Still-Fic]. If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Thanks to those of you who are still following & enjoying this!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 12  
** Steffy stormed into Bill's mansion. "What the hell were thinking, Bill?" she yelled. "An illicit hookup in the bathroom of the Four Seasons? Where the media is always trying to bust someone… where I was having lunch with my MOTHER!"

"Did she talk you into that massage I suggested?" Bill asked nonchalant as he continued lighting candles as he had been doing when she walked in.

"Massage? What massage?!" Steffy stared at him still so focused on the object of her tirade that she had yet to notice her surroundings. "You know, she must have forgotten when LIAM showed up."

"What?" he asked, shocked his head shot up to finally meet Steffy's stormy gaze. "Liam was there? How did he even know where to find you?"

"He was there when I had Pam make the reservation," Steffy replied offhandedly before refocusing on her venting. "But that's not the point. The point is that my husband, who happens to be your son, showed up less than 15 minutes after you had me bent over in a handicap bathroom fucking me until I couldn't remember my name!" Steffy was yelling loudly and pacing. "And there I was, forced to sit there with his father's cum smeared on my inner thighs and no panties because you stole them after you fucked me brainless 20 minutes before."

A dark smirk filled Bill's countenance as he set aside the matches and snuck up behind her and wrapped her in a bear hug. Steffy's struggled as he kissed and nibbled his way up her neck to that spot behind her ear that made her weak. "And did it make you hot?" his hot whisper demanded. "Did you get wet at the feel of my cum on your thighs while he begged you to give him another chance? Because I have to admit, I love knowing that no matter what he says or does, you're mine now."

"Bill," she groaned, before regaining her composure and pulled away. She spun around to face him. "I belong to no one. I'm getting this divorce for me, Bill. And if and when we fuck again, it will only be because it pleases ME to do it, not because I somehow belong to you." The angry light in her eyes darkened, and she began invading his space and getting in his face. "I don't know nor do I care what you have going on in that head of yours, but you. Don't. Own. Me." As she said this, she let her fingers slide through his thick dark locks, only to clench at her last words. "You had your chance to make me yours. To own me, mind, body, and soul. I was ready to give you everything, but you chose your wife—your Logan—over me. You chose memories of the taste of my lips over the real thing. You—hell, none of you Spencers—will ever get another chance to make me second to a Logan ever again. From now on, I'll be taking what I want from you and walking away satisfied. You will never break me again. But if you're not careful, I'll have you begging me not to break you."

An excited light filled Bill's gaze, at seeing his Steffy emerging. His strong, challenging, ambitious, fiery, captivating Steffy. The one he had helped force down under that shell she had been on her way to becoming as his son's wife. But never again. Their marriages would end, and he would have her as his bride and the future mother of his children… even if he had to destroy his own beloved son to do it. "I doubt it," his raspy voice answered. "If you can break me, then I'd probably be begging you to prove you can do it."

Steffy's eyes ignited. "Be careful what you wish for."

"Never," Bill hissed. "Not if it's you I'm wishing for." Steffy's gaze softened slightly and she released her grip on his hair to allow her hand to slide down and caress his cheek. "But you're wrong about more than that."

"Oh?"

"I've never chosen any Logan over you," Bill swore. "Not ever. I never will. But I did let all of the people who claimed to love me convince me that I had to be someone who couldn't be with you to prove I loved my family." Tears filled her gaze and she started to pull away. "But nobody but you realized that the only way I could really be me and be happy was to be the man who loved you with every fiber of my being."

A breath shuddered from Steffy's mouth. "Bill—"

"Just like you, I shoved myself down as far as I could for my family. To make things ok for them. I gave you to my son as my penance because I thought he was the better man. That he could love and treasure you like the captivating, challenging, sexy, beautiful woman you are. But I've finally realized he may be a better person than me, but he'll never be the better man for you. And I'm done torturing us both for past mistakes. I don't care how long it takes or who outside of us gets hurt. They're all adults. They'll deal. But you will be mine because this time, I'm never letting you go."

"Bill, you have to stop—we have to stop."

"Don't you get it, my beautiful Steffy." He lifted her, wrapping one arm around her back and the other under her butt as he carried her to his couch and laid her there gently. "That's not who we are. Not as individuals. And certainly not together. We never stop. We never give up. We never end. The mistake we made was thinking we could or should. Instead of making Katie CEO, I should have given Forrester Creations to you. Instead of trying to make it work with Katie, I should have ended things before we ever said 'I do', and made love to you in that cabin in Big Bear. The only marriage bed I should have ever had should have been with you. And that is one mistake I will definitely be correcting. Because from the moment we met, you were mine and I was yours. And I'm done pretending otherwise."

Steffy lunged up to kiss him with all of the passion and love she'd held hidden deep inside for so many years. When they needed air, they reluctantly pulled apart and Bill rested his forehead against hers. "I get that you might need time to reconcile your feelings for Liam and for me," Bill whispered. "I'm in no rush. Because I see the end goal, and you—the family we'll build together—are more than worth waiting for."

"I love you," Steffy whispered desperately as tears began to fall. "I'm confused about a lot of things. What to do about it. Whether I should be here like this. Whether we can have all of that. How I feel about Liam. How or when to tell him the truth." She let her fingers trace his face gently. "But I have never been confused about how much I love you. I've run from it. I've buried it, but I do love you."

"I know," Bill sighed in relief at finally getting her to admit her feelings. "And I love you."

"Make love to me, Bill," she begged. "I don't want to hide anymore. Not here. Not when it's just you and me."

"With pleasure." His mouth came down to brush a gentle peck across her lush mouth. In a gentleness no one would expect for a man like Bill Spencer, Jr, he lifted his body until there was no contact between them outside of the sweet kisses he proceeded to drop gently all over her skin beginning with her face.

Steffy lay dazed by the uncharacteristic tenderness her lover showered upon her. When her lover's lips ventured lower, her hands came up to glide into his hair and pull him closer. Her first moan filled the air and seemed to release more of languor. As his lips dipped at her skin, one of her hands slipped between them to release the buttons of his shirt.

In her distraction, she hadn't noticed his busy fingers undressing her until they bumped into her own. He suddenly reared back to remove his half-open shirt. Bill paused to gaze lovingly at Steffy's body splayed beneath him. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her up into his kiss, so he could finish removing her blouse. Her bra quickly followed thanks to her own nimble fingers and her need to feel him skin-to-skin.

As the kiss deepened, Steffy's head fell back onto the couch, and Bill followed her down unwilling to relinquish the kiss. A needy moan filled the air as his chest made contact with her bare breasts. Finally, the need for oxygen was too much and he released her lips. Their eyes met and held, sharing so much more than word could. Steffy's hand came up to caress his cheek before sliding back through his thick tresses and pulling him back down to her hungry mouth.

Their remaining clothes vanished quickly until they lay bare in each other's arms. After another seemingly endless gaze shared, Bill thrust forward uniting them. Their moans filled the air at the sense of completion and connection. Her hand slid languidly down his back to the base of his spine as her legs wrapped more tightly around his waist. Bill's hips thrust forward at her body's urging, and with slow, deep thrusts, they began a rhythm.

Bill teased her with his teasing finessed lovemaking. But soon Steffy grew tired of the games and fisted her hand in the back of his hair. "No more games," she demanded forcing him to meet her gaze. "Just make love to me."

A feral gleam entered Bill's gaze as his hips picked up their pace and took on a jerky, fierce cadence, drawing raw desperate sounds from Steffy's throat. "Better?" He practically growled.

"Yes," she hissed.

She met his daring gaze with one of her own as she flexed her internal muscles in time with his savage thrusting. Bill's mouth swooped down to take hers muffling the moans that were fast building to screams.

When it became too much for both of them, pleasure overtook them. He lifted his head in a roar of ecstasy as her screams rose in concert.

* * *

Bill's head fell into the crook of Steffy's neck as she caressed his slick back lazily. "Wow," she gasped catching breath. His chest rumbled with amusement and he nipped her neck.

Steffy felt a smile lifting her mouth as her eyes drifted open. She frowned slightly in confusion as the light seemed to flicker and dim. She looked left and noticed for the candlelight surrounding them and the nearby fully set dinner table that had been brought in for the first time. "Uh, Bill?" His response was to grumble incoherently into her neck. "Were you expecting someone? Am I interrupting your plans?"

"Yeah," he admitted beginning to lavish open mouthed kisses on her neck. "But you had a better idea."

Steffy stiffened, and then pushed Bill off of her and onto the ground. "Excuse me?"

Unfortunately for her plan, he didn't let go of her and she came tumbling down on top of him. "Oof! Ow," he groaned. "What was that for?"

"You told me you were in love with me and serious about us," Steffy shrieked hitting him in her outrage. "But you planned this whole romantic dinner for some ho? Who was it? It's not a random because they would never be allowed in the house. Who was she? Was it Brooke? Oh god, I'm gonna be sick. You are Mr. Brooke Logan now, after all. Of course this was for her. Let me go, you bastard. I warned you!"

"Steffy! Steffy, calm down!" Bill grunted, as he fought not to laugh. "Steffy, it's not what you think. This was not for Brooke. I swear."

"Then who? Who was the hussy you were bringing her to fuck? Who?"

"You," he answered subtly fighting not to release his laughter. "Steffy, I did this for you."

"Me?" Steffy calmed as she eyed him skeptically. "All this is for me."

"Uh, yeah," he snickered. "I knew you would be here after our interlude. I was expecting an earful about invading your lunch date, especially when you didn't call or text me afterward."

"You think you know me that well?" Her eyes softened as she looked around with fresh eyes. "And what if I hadn't shown."

"I would have come to you," he admitted shrugging. "I think it's obvious I can't stay away from you for very long."

They shared a kiss. Steffy's hands came up to cup his cheeks as she straddled his waist. "It was thoughtful, but unnecessary. Although… there may be something else you could do for me."

"Oh, really," he purred, cupping her hips as they began rock against him.

"Really," she asserted, nipping at his bottom lip. "You up to it?"

"Oh, I'm more that happy to serve."

"I think I'm gonna hold you to that," she whispered against his mouth about to sink deeply into one of his intoxicating kisses.

"Dad!" They froze. "Something's wrong with the gate, it won't let me in."

"Where did you park?" Bill asked dropping his forehead to hers with an annoyed sigh.

"Around back," she whispered back in shock. "I didn't want you to see me coming and prepare. I guess that was silly."

"Why don't you head upstairs and take a shower. I'll let him know it's not a good time. And then I'll bring you dinner."

Steffy scrambled up from his lap, grabbed her clothes, shoes & purse, and then scurried up the stairs. Bill grabbed his pants and slipped them on. With a quick glance, around to make sure Steffy hadn't left anything incriminating behind, he stepped to his intercom. "What's up, son?"

Suddenly, Liam opened the front door rather than respond, "I remembered the emergency override."

"I see," Bill said grabbing up his shirt, and slipping it on, his gaze darting toward the staircase before refocusing on his son. "So what's the emergency, kid?"

Liam gaped as he took in his half-dressed father and his surroundings. "Am I interrupting? I'm interrupting. Is it Brooke? Are you reconciling? Because maybe there's hope for me and Steffy still."

"Son, son, son," Bill cut in just wanting to get back to his woman. "It's not Brooke. There is no reconciliation to be had. Our marriage was me being too stubborn to see we weren't right for each other and to blind to see that Brooke was just running to hide under another man until her precious "Destiny" was available, as usual. I'm no longer an option for her any more than she is for me. But if you and Hope end up back together, I would watch my back. She has a thing for keeping it in the family."

"Dad!"

"What?" Bill shrugged pacing to his mantle to toy with a photo of Liam and Steffy.

"How can you say that about her?" Liam asked in shock. "You were so in love."

"More like infatuated," Bill snorted derisively. "Things had run their course with Katie, but Will being conceived tied us together in a way that felt irrevocable. Rather than accept the failure of our marriage, I stupidly fought for it. Because I didn't want to hurt my family, I fought for something that could never make me happy. And I ended up resenting Katie for not letting me go."

"But you seemed so happy."

"A caged bird still sings, Liam," Bill answered with a shrug. "Looking back, Brooke was an easy distraction. A place to put all of my resentment. But what we had was never anything real. It was a rebound taken way too far." Bill turned to look at his son. "Do you get what I'm saying?"

"That's not Steffy and me," Liam said, shaken by his father's admission. "I love my wife. We love each other. It's not some rebound."

"Really?" Bill scoffed. "Then why can't you seem to stop bouncing off other women. You betrayed your family and then kissed Sally, who you claim not to have feelings for."

"It was a mistake brought on by the intensity of life-and-death circumstances!"

"And what about the lunch with Hope?"

"How did—never mind, it doesn't matter," Liam huffed. "Hope and I are just friends. She's focused on Wyatt, and I'm in love with my wife."

"If you say so."

"What is this all about?" Liam frowned at his father in confusion. "You have always been our biggest cheerleader. You saw my love for Steffy before I did. I need your help now more than I ever did. What's changed?"

"More like what didn't," Bill answered. "Steffy is sexy, driven, loyal, beautiful, challenging, brilliant… a diamond of the first water… absolutely captivating. And yet you always seem to find some reason why that's not enough for you. Why SHE'S not enough for you." Liam looked at his father in awe. "I worked so hard to give you the best. Until I was finally ready to give up. But you seemed to get your head out of your ass and figure it out on your own. Nearly losing her to Wyatt… I was sure it was your wakeup call. But here we are again, and you're disrespecting her for that tacky Sally Spectra wannabe and doing lunch with your ex who you've dumped her for more than once. You don't deserve her. You never did, really, but no one does. However, I can tell you from now on, if you want Steffy in your life, you're going to have to earn it yourself or watch as another man loves her the way she deserves. Because I'm done helping you hurt her."

"Dad!"

"I love you, son," Bill added. "But I'm not sure how much I like you right now. You should probably go and think about what I said. Besides, you're interrupting my evening."

Liam eyed his father in dismay and then nodded. "I get it. I screwed up, but I will fix this. I will get Steffy back. I'll make you proud, Dad."

Bill sighed. "I owe you an apology. My pride in you is not dependent on you winning Steffy back, Liam." He paused and lifted his son's chin so they could look each other in the eye. "It's dependent on you being the man I know you're capable of being, with or without Steffy. Can you honestly say you've been that man lately?" Liam shook his head sadly. "Then maybe that's what you should focus on instead of chasing Steffy. Sometimes really loving someone means letting them go. If Katie and I had figured that out sooner, we would have hurt each other a lot less."

Liam sighed. "I guess I have some thinking to do."

Bill nodded and embraced his son. After a moment, Liam pulled back, and they nodded as Liam turned to leave. Bill checked the security to make sure he was gone and the doors were locked before he took the stairs two at a time towards his bedroom. As he reached the threshold, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. "Steffy?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** _If you watch The Bold and The Beautiful and recognize a character, I don't own it and didn't create it. Sorry for the delay. Writer's block is no joke! Hope you all are still enjoying it!_

* * *

 **The Point of It All**

 **Part 13  
** As he looked for her, his phone buzzed again. Bill pulled out his phone to find a text from Steffy:

[Hey.  
Sorry I had to go, but Liam really seemed to need you so I slipped out the back. Don't follow me. Please. Take care of your son. I know what he means to you. Hearing his voice like that reminded me of that very clearly. I need some time to think anyway. Everything has been happening so fast. You promised you would understand me needing time. So I need you to prove it. Prove that I'm right to trust you & let you in again. We'll see each other on Thanksgiving. You, Liam, and Wyatt are still invited. Just let me have some time to process. I do love you.  
Steffy]

Bill growled and threw his phone at the bed, "Son of a bitch!" He slouched onto the edge of his bed rubbing his face with his hands.

He knew he should have seen it coming, but he'd let his hunger for her distract him as it always did. He would give her until Thanksgiving to reach out, and then, he would remind her who she belonged to and with. His other plans had been going well, and he knew one particularly devious and desperate plot to get her back was well underway.

He remembered when it came to him. It was before he'd fully realized he still had feelings for his daughter-in-law. Years ago, when they'd told him they were pregnant, a part of him felt like it died with the revelation that his beautiful Steffy was carrying another man's child. It had caused his resentment of Katie to burn anew although at the time he hadn't realized the feelings for what they were. That—and the feeling of being trapped that had grown steadily from the moment Katie announced her miraculous pregnancy with Will—was his only explanation for his inexplicable interest in Brooke Logan. It had also been around then that was first time he realized how deeply he resented his own son. That had hurt him to even feel it, but he'd done his best to bury that with the rest his love for Steffy.

When that child died, he'd grieved it, deeply. He would have loved him or her no matter because how could he not love a piece of Steffy or his son, but there had also been a shameful sense of relief. His beautiful Steffy would not carry another man's child. So this time when they mentioned their plans to try, he had been better prepared for it. But it had still galled, especially as his son had fallen back on his more disloyal instincts.

"Too much like his mother," he mumbled to himself. Sure, he had cared for the woman, but clearly, Kelly hadn't been nearly as loyal as he'd believed her to be since unbeknownst to him, she'd been sleeping with both him and Thorne Forrester. How his son had completely ignored that fact while he'd spun that sanitized little fairytale when they were first connecting, he would never know. But it didn't really matter. As always, he would do his best to guide his son.

That did not include letting him have a child with his beloved Steffy. That was out of the question. He'd never willingly let himself acknowledge the real reason why he'd had Justin slip those drugs in Liam's healthy vegan smoothies every day. They were completely harmless, except that they temporarily decreased viable sperm production and over time decreased sexual interest. At the time, he'd thought it was to protect Steffy and Spencer Publications from his son's growing feelings for that redheaded leach. The last thing any of them needed was a half-Spectra heir with its greedy, grasping little hand out. However in hindsight, he could admit to himself that there may have been some jealousy guiding his actions at the thought of Steffy swollen with his son's seed instead of his.

A dark grin curled across his face. But any guilt he'd felt was long gone now that Liam signed the divorce papers and freed him to take back his woman. When he'd confessed his pursuit of Steffy to Justin, he'd had him stop supplying Liam immediately. Turns out because of the turmoil of the last couple weeks, Justin already had. But that didn't matter. He had made love to her. And despite the fact that the topic of their unprotected sex had come up, she had yet to connect the dots or demand he use protection. Even now she could be carrying their little prince or princess. A little piece of their love made flesh. And while when she figured out what he'd done she'd be thoroughly annoyed with his highhandedness—scratch that. His beloved would without question be livid. However, knowing him like she did, he has faith that it wouldn't matter in the long run. She would understand it was his way of making the ultimate commitment to her.

Speaking of commitment, he should update his will. He planned to leave her and any children they would share all of the shares of Forrester and 50% of his estate —to include this house and controlling interest in his share of Spencer Publications, which had grown since buying out part of Karen's share so she could finance her pursuit of other endeavors. His boys could split what was left. And if they fought his will, it would cost them more of their share of his estate until it all defaulted to Steffy and their children. With Justin as his executor, of course. But it would be years before that would be a concern for any of them.

His phone buzzed. He reached for it seeing Justin. With a sigh, he decided to get the ball rolling and focus on business so when the time came he would be free to take time off to focus on wooing Steffy.

* * *

Steffy sat blindly staring into her oversized mug of hot cocoa gone cold as she tried to make sense of her recent actions. Until Liam's revelation about kissing Sally, there would have been no way to convince her that Liam Cooper Spencer wasn't the love of her life.

To her mind, he had been the center of every plan she had for the future. He was her best friend, the only father she could imagine for her kids, and the only man she wanted to make love to for the rest of her life. Before she heard him admit to kissing Sally, Liam was it for her, but now…

Now, she'd slept with a man she used to see as her everything in more ways than she'd ever viewed Liam. Bill was more than a best friend, the greatest love of her life, or the man she dreamed of fathering her children, although he'd been all of that once. He had been her co-conspirator, her adversary, her biggest cheerleader, her protector & her safe place… and now he happened to be her father-in-law. And as if that didn't leave her head spinning enough, it had only been a few months since her marriage to his other son—Liam's half-brother, Wyatt—had ended.

What had become of her life? This wasn't her. It damn sure wasn't who she wanted to be. Bouncing from relationship to relationship… especially with men who were all in the same family. No, this was a page right out of the Logan playbook. God, how demoralizing was it to realize the emotionally needy creature she was becoming without even realizing it? When had she started becoming so much like someone she had hated for so long?

' _The first time you married the son of the man you really love just to get a win over a Logan_ ,' a voice in her head whispered.

"That wasn't what happened," she said aloud shaken by the very thought. "Liam and I fell in love. I went about my pursuit of him the wrong way at first, but my feelings were real." She forced herself to her feet, dumped her cocoa, & rinsed the mug. "We fell in love. That was real," she repeated to herself under her breath adamantly trying to shake the question that kept popping up in response: _Wasn't it?_

* * *

Steffy stepped out of her bathtub feeling soothed & refreshed just as she heard a knock at her door. She scooped up her towel & her robe with a frown. She figured it could only be one of two people, her mother or Bill, and since she'd asked Bill for space—she rolled her eyes. It could still be either one of those two people. Hell, it was even more likely to be Bill reasserting his position before "magnanimously" choosing to give her space. Or it could be her mom checking in on her if she ever managed to disengage from the weird, battle of wills thing she'd had going with her dad earlier. Another knock sounded.

Steffy sighed and tightened the belt in her robe and continued toweling her hair dry as she moved toward the door. Whoever it was knew someone was here because she'd been playing music while she languished in her bath. She peeked through the peephole and reared back in shock. She took a moment to consider her options and then sighed. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door. "What happened to calling or texting, Liam?"

"I was in the neighborhood and when I realized you were probably staying here, I felt like an idiot, but I couldn't resist checking," he admitted, his eyes dipping lustily to her scantily clad body. "I brought food if it helps." Steffy crosses her arms and lifted an eyebrow at that. She eyed the boxes he held. "A meat lover's for you and a Gluten-free, Vegan with pineapple & green pepper for me."

Steffy caught a whiff and sighed. "Fine," she relented. "But only as long as the food lasts, and no wine for you because you have to drive home."

"Water will be fine," he swore eagerly.

Steffy eyed him for a moment longer before letting him in. "Go ahead and get comfortable while I get dressed."

"Don't bother on my account," Liam replied eying her hungrily again.

Steffy paused. "I'm well aware that I don't have to take you into account for anything I do anymore." And without another glance in his direction, she hurried upstairs to toss on some of the pieces from the new athleisure line she was testing ahead of Forrester's spring launch. She just hoped she wouldn't regret opening her door to him again.


End file.
